This Isn't Goodbye, It's BRB
by Can't.Be.Saved
Summary: Sequel to We Don't Have Anywhere To Go But Up.
1. Chapter 1

**Sequel?**

**I think yes!**

**This Isn't Goodbye, It's BRB**

**Disclaimer for while story: I do not own Hey Monday, All Time Low, any other band or brand, the title, or some of the chapter titles used in this story.**

**Chapter 1: Gone So Long**

**Jack's POV**

_Three months, twenty-nine days, fifteen hours, and..._

I looked over at the clock.

_Roughly thirty minutes since I've seen her._

I collapsed on my bed on my back after changing into sweatpants and a t-shirt. It's three in the morning, two days before New Years Eve. I stared up at the ceiling, tracing shapes with my eyes at the white, even though it looked dark gray because I had the lights off. There was a small glare coming from the window, though.

My phone goes off, so I move my head to the right before grabbing my phone, instantly smiling at a text from Sam. "_So...I know it's late, but, hey : )"_

I moved so I was looking at the ceiling again, but was holding my phone with both hands over my face. _"Hey : ) what are you doing up?"_

_"I could ask you the same thing."_

_"I just didn't feel like going to bed yet."_

She didn't reply for about ten minutes. I was almost asleep when my phone went off. _"Ah, I see."_

I texted back an, _"Mmhmm," _before setting my phone on the bedside table.

I fell asleep, but was woken up at about five AM. _That makes no sense_, I thought. But then I felt the bed dip and a hand start playing with my hair.

Confused, I rolled over and my eyes widened at Sam smiling at me. I grinned, sat up, and wrapped my arms around her tightly. "What are you doing here? How'd you get in? And what did you do to your hair?" I asked as her arms found their way around me.

She giggled. _Man, I missed hearing her laugh_. "I wanted to surprise you, I dyed it blonde, but it's still black underneath, and I got Alex's spare key, but somebody left their front door unlocked. Not smart, Jack." She pulled back to tap my nose.

I looked her over, then picked up some of her hair in my fingertips. "This is so different." I pulled her close again nuzzling my nose her neck, just taking in her scent, the feel of her soft skin, her in my arms, everything about her.

"I guess," she laughs.

"I missed you."

"I missed you, too."

I laid down, taking her with me. "I can't believe you're here. Why didn't you tell me!"

She laughed. "I told you. I wanted to surprise you and I also told you I was coming out here after Christmas."

"Oh, yeah. I have to give you your present tomorrow."

"And I have to give you your's."

"Cool. And-" I cut off and pressed my lips to hers, the kiss quickly turning passionate and her tongue meeting mine.

Sam pulled back first and nestled her head in my chest. "I love you, Jack," she breathed.

Laying my head on hers, I close my eyes and whispered, "I love you, too." I groaned. "The guys are all going to come over because they'll want to see you tomorrow."

"I already saw Alex and Rian. I had to get the spare key and they gave me a ride. And Zack's in California."

"They'll still want to talk to you and Zack's coming down tomorrow."

"That's cool."

"Do you still have the spare key?"

She shook her head. "When I found out your door was unlocked, I gave it back to them." She sighed and unwrapped herself from me, propping herself up on her elbow.

"Wanna go to sleep?"

I shook my head, smirking. "Not anymore." I kissed her again.

"No," she said when I stopped, taking two fistfuls of my shirt and kissing me twice. "Okay."

I chuckled and pecked her lips again, pulling her back to me. "Tired?"

Sammy nods. "Yes."

"Let's go to sleep." I grabbed the blankets, putting them over us. "Jeez, I still can't believe you're here." I buried my nose in her hair.

"Believe it, babe," she laughs. "Night, Jack."

"Night, Sammy."

_**The Next Day**_

**Sammy's POV**

"Wake up, Blondie."

"Leave me alone, Alex. I'm not even really a blonde," I mumbled, hugging the pillow close to my head.

"That means nothing," Rian said.

"Jack needs to wake up, too." I opened my eyes just as Alex hit Jack with a pillow on his head.

"Ow. Fuck you, Alex," Jack said.

I giggled and rubbed my eyes. Since I was laying on my stomach, I just moved my head so I was facing the other way, noticing Rian was standing on that side of the bed. "Hey." I smiled.

"Hey, you wanna make a fire?" Jack asked before continuing with, "I've got some morning wood," and laying on top of me.

I was laughing, but said, "Get off," pushing him off me. "You're a creep." I sat up.

Alex and Rian laughed. "That was a good one." Alex gave Jack a high five.

"Ugh, I need more girl friends." I put my face in my hands.

"For more reasons than one," Jack said.

I picked up the pillow closest to me and hit him over the head. "Why are you my boyfriend?" I mumbled as I walked out of Jack's room.

"Because you love me!" Jack called after me.

"True that!" I called back, shutting the bathroom door.

After walking out of the bathroom, I went back to Jack's room because they were still in there. "Hey, we have a question," Alex said once he saw me standing in the doorway.

"Okay." I sit at the end of Jack's bed, my legs pulled to my chest.

"What happens when girls sleepover together?" Jack asked.

"Oh, you know, the usual." I crossed my legs and started picking at my nails, knowing that their expressions would be too funny to keep a straight face at what I'm about to say. "Sexy pillow fights in our underwear, lesbian hook ups, truth or dare..." I trailed off and looked up and their shocked faces, then giggled and shook my head. "That totally doesn't happen. At least not at the ones I went to."

They all looked disappointed. "So, then what really does happen?" Alex said.

I shrugged. "Depends on the friend. Usually we watch movies, talk about guys, eat a lot of junk food, and...yeah, that's about it." I paused, then said, "You guys really shouldn't believe everything you see in movies. Can I get food?"

Jack nods and says, "Yes." When I got to the kitchen, I heard him yell, "Make me something, too!"

"Okay!" I yelled back.

Peanut butter and jelly. We're going basic.

I was making Jack's sandwich when I heard Jack yell, once again, "Alex, don't ask her that!"

I looked over my shoulder, turning around completely when Alex ran in here, followed closely by Jack. "Hey, Sa-" Jack clapped a hand over Alex's mouth.

"Don't answer whatever he is going to ask you," he said.

"No way it's that bad," I said.

"But it is."

"I have nothing to do with this." Rian walked in, holding his hands up in surrender. "Not apart of this at all."

Alex must've licked Jack's hand because Jack squealed like a girl and started wiping his hand on his shirt. "Gross!"

"Sammy, what's-"

"No!" Jack tackled Alex and they started play fighting.

I raised an eyebrow, then walked over and pushed Jack off Alex. "This better have been worth it. What do you want?" I asked, looking down at a still laying down Alex.

Alex grins. "What's your bra size?" Rian starts laughing and Jack rolls over on his back and puts his hands over his face, but I could tell he laughing. I narrowed my eyes slightly at Alex and he starts laughing, but I said, "What's your's? I mean, you've got nothing there!" I leaned down and smacked his chest.

"Ow! Hey! That's...no!" He stood up as I was helping Jack up.

"Alex, there are two things I will never understand as a girl. One," I held up a finger, "why pink makes you feel more girly and two," I held up a second finger, "bra sizes." I walked around him to get my sandwich and go to sit on the couch next to Rian. "Let me know if you figure it out because I have no idea."

"And this is why I love her," Jack said.

"Love you, too," I said before taking a bite of my sandwich.

**XXXX**

Jack laid down on his bed so his head was in my lap. I was sitting up against the headboard. I looked down at him as he asks, "So, what do we do now?"

I shrug and start playing with his hair. "I don't know." He sighs and sits up. "What do you want to do?"

He shrugs and lays his head on my shoulder. "I'm bored!" he whines.

"Well, I am, too!" I laughed.

"I know that."

"Just checking." I look down at him. "You should seriously let me braid you're hair."

"Don't braid my hair."

"Please?"

"No."

"Pleeeeaaasssse?"

"Noooo."

I sighed and laid down not facing him. "Fine."

"What? Sammy," he laid down behind me, putting his arms around me and laying his head against my shoulder, "don't be mad."

"I'm not," I laughed.

"Okay." He pulls me closer to him, cuddling into me even more.

We laid like that for a few minutes, but I looked over my shoulder at him. He smiles a little at me and I rolled over on my back so I could kiss him. He pulls back and buries his head in my hair.

"I can't believe you dyed your hair blonde," he says.

I chuckled, but said, "Does it look bad?"

Jack shakes his head. "Not at all. Just different."

"Okay." I kiss his cheek.

"I missed you so much," he whispers, pulling me even closer to him and closing his eyes.

I giggled. "I missed you, too."

"You better have!"

"I did!"

"Okay. Just checking."

I laughed again. "You're cute."

"Aw, thanks. So are you." He smiles.

"Thanks." I started running my fingers through his hair.

"You're gonna make me fall asleep," he says, but makes no move to stop my hand.

"Yup. That's the plan. Then I'm gonna go out and party."

Jack chuckles at my sarcasm. "Have fun."

"Oh, I plan to," We both laughed together. He looks up at me, before pressing his lips to mine. I stopped and said, "Jack?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm hungry."

Jack laughs, but says, "You stopped kissing me to tell me you were hungry."

I nod. "I am very hungry."

He climbs off his bed and says, "Come on," grabbing my hand.

"Will you carry me?" I asked, almost pouting.

He sighs, over dramatically. "I guess." I was picked up bridal-style and carried into the kitchen, where he sat me down on the counter. "I'll make you something. What do you want?"

"Jack, you know how to cook? I asked, eyebrow raised.

"Well...no. By that, I meant I'll make you a sandwich or something I can heat up in the microwave."

"Can I have a Pop-Tart?" I asked, slightly laughing. "Just keep it simple."

He nods and turns around. "But I don't know how old they are."

"I don't really care." I shrugged.

So, I ate my Pop-Tart, then found myself sitting next to Jack on his couch watching TV. I cuddled into his chest even more since his arms were around me. He kisses my hair.

Jeez, I missed him.


	2. Chapter 2

**And you guys thought I wasn't writing...psh. Lol**

**Chapter 2: Peacock**

**Sammy's POV**

"Are you brave enough to let me see your peacock? What you waiting for? It's time for you to show it off." I looked over the back of the couch to see Alex walk into Jack's house. He was dancing, kind of, singing 'Peacock' by Katy Perry. "Don't be a shy kinda guy. I bet it's beautiful. Come on, baby. Let me see, what you hidin' underneath."

By the time he finished the chorus, he was standing behind the couch. I raised an eyebrow, then looked at Zack and Rian who had followed after Alex. "It came on in the car," Rian said, shrugging.

"I wanna see your peacock, cock, cock. Your peacock, cock. Your peacock, cock, cock. Your peacock," Alex continues as he dances over to the fridge. He opens the door, looks for a second, then closes it. He obviously came up short by the lack of something in his hands. "Where's Jack?"

"It started raining indoors, so he went to go play in the puddles," I said as Zack sat next to me and I started flipping through the channels on the TV.

"So, he's in the shower?" Alex asked.

"What was your first clue?" I chuckled.

"Are you brave enough to let me see your peacock? Don't be a chicken. Boy, stop acting like a beeotch. I'mma peace out if you don't give me the payoff. Come on, baby. Let me see what you hidin' underneath." Alex finishes as he jumps over the back of the couch, sitting on the other side of me.

"I don't know if I should laugh or be concerned about your sexuality," I said to Alex, finally settling on The Top Twenty Countdown on Fuse.

"Probably both," Zack said, making me laugh.

Rian sits next to Zack as Alex starts humming 'Peacock' and dancing a little in his seat. "Dude!" I said.

"What?" he asks.

"It's not that great of a song."

"It's stuck in my head, though!"

"What's stuck in your head?"

We all looked over the back of the couch to see Jack standing there with a towel around his waist, still dripping wet from his shower. "Alex is singing 'Peacock'," I said.

"By Katy Perry?" Jack raises an eyebrow.

"It's stuck in my head!" Alex defends.

Jack turns around and starts dancing back to his room singing, "I wanna see your peacock, cock, cock. Your peacock, cock. Your peacock, cock, cock. Your peacock." He was still singing, but his voice faded out after that.

I look back at Alex. "See what you do?"

He nods. "You'll be singing it later, too."

"But she'll be serious about it." I looked over at Zack and smacked his chest before sinking down in my seat, crossing my arms, and blushing. They all laughed, but Zack said, "That really didn't hurt."

"You suck," I mumbled.

"Nah, you do," Alex said.

I blushed again. but jumped over the back of the couch to go to the kitchen. "You're disgusting."

"You're blushing. Not a good sign. What did you do!"

"I didn't do anything!" I said, opening the fridge door. I pulled out a bottle of water then jumped after I shut the door because Alex was standing there, leaning against the wall. "What?" I asked.

"Was it fun?" He narrows his eyes, but in seriousness, and a smirk on his face. "Did you enjoy it?"

"Better question is did he enjoy it," Zack said.

I sighed, rolled my eyes, and walked around Alex. "Blow jobs are disgusting."

"Only a person that has given one would know that!"

"Alex," I looked over my shoulder at him since he was still standing by the fridge, "you haven't got laid in a while, have you? You seem a little antsy."

Zack and Rian burst out laughing and I smirked at Alex, who was now glaring at me. "Fuck you."

"Nah, I'm alright." I turn back to the TV. "Thanks for the offer, though."

"Jaaaaack, your girlfriend isn't nice," Alex whines.

"She's not nice to _you_," Rian says before Jack calls from his room.

"Be nice to Alex, Sam!"

"I'll start being nice to Alex when he stops asking personal questions!" I called back.

"Alex, you know I'll tell you everything later," Jack says as he walks into the kitchen, now fully clothed.

"But I like making Sammy feel uncomfortable. It's fun," Alex says.

I turn around and pout at Jack. He walks over and leans down to peck my lips. "You have my full permission to be mean to him."

"Ha!" I stick my tongue out at Alex.

"That's not fair!" Alex said.

"Oh, but it is."

He sighs, waving me off. "Whatever."

I get up and walk over to Alex, wrapping my arms around him. "I'm sorry. I love you!"

He chuckles and hugs me back. "Love you, too."

"Okay." I step back from him, then skip over to Jack and hug him.

He stumbles a little, but chuckles and hugs me back. "Why are you so hyper?"

"Well..." Rian started.

"That's not the reason." Jack gives Rian a look, pointing at him.

Zack laughs. "Sure it's not."

He sighs. "I can't win!"

His chest rumbled against my head, making me giggle. "I can hear you talking through your chest."

He chuckles again and leans down to kiss my lips. "Guys, do that later!" Rian says.

I giggled and pulled away from Jack to kiss Rian's cheek. "I want one!" Zack says.

I kiss Zack's cheek, too, then look at Alex, who's still by the fridge. "Want one, too?" He nods, pouting a little. I went over to him and kissed his cheek before looking at Jack.

He's pouting and whines, "I want one!" I went over to Jack, but kiss his lips. "Ha! I'm special!"

"Shut up, Jack. She can't kiss our lips," Alex says.

"Well...she could. But that would upset Jack and I don't think Sam wants to do that," Zack says. "Especially to your ugly face."

Alex's jaw dropped a little as Rian said, "Ohh, burn."

"That's not cool," Alex said.

"You're beautiful, Alex," I said.

"Thank you," he replies.

I shook my head, but laughed, then sat down on the couch between Zack and Rian so my feet were hanging over the back of the couch and my back was on the cushion. "What'cha doin'?" Rian says.

I giggled, but shrugged a little. "Being bored."

Zack eyed me a second. "That looks fun."

I nod. "It is. You should do it with me."

"That's what she said!" Jack said from behind the fridge door.

Zack, Rian, and I laughed, but Zack moved so he was sitting like me. "This is fun," he says after a second, then smiles.

"I told you!" I said.

"Man, I wanna do that, too," Rian says before flipping around so he was sitting like me and Zack. "Wow. New perspective."

"I know, right?" Zack said.

"This is so cool," Rian mumbles.

I giggled. "You guys are silly," I said before putting both feet on the floor and basically flipping off the couch.

"How the fuck did you do that?" Rian asked.

I shrugged. "I don't know. I just did." I sat down between him and Zack.

"She was a cheerleader, Rian. Remember?" Zack said.

"Good point," Rian says before moving so he was sitting upright. "I got dizzy."

I laughed and Zack said, "This does make you a little dizzy. And I feel like the blood is rushing to my head."

"It is," I said.

"Damn it." Zack sits upright.

"You guys are some of the weirdest fucking people-" Alex started.

"Coming from the guy who was singing 'Peacock'," I cut him off.

"Shut up," he mumbled.

"God damn it, Sam. I just got that out of my head," Jack said.

I laughed, but said, "I'm sorry."

He sighs, "It's okay."

I felt arms wrap around my neck and someone lay their head against mine. I looked back as best as I could and saw Alex. "You okay there?" I ask.

"Mmhmm. You smell nice."

"Thank you?" I laughed.

"Yeah, no problem."

"Alex, get off my girlfriend," Jack says.

"No."

"Yes," Jack and I said together.

"Fine, but I'm coming back for you later." Alex does let go, but he walks around the couch and sits on Zack's lap.

"That's...okay? I guess," Zack says.

"You don't have much of an option," Alex says.

"I can push you off."

"Please, don't." Zack starts to push Alex, but Alex wraps his arms around Zack's neck tightly. "No!" Zack succeeded, though, because Alex ended up on the floor. He pouts, but stands up. "Asshole."

I sighed and held open my arms. Alex smiles and sits on my lap, his arms finding their way around me. "I take back what I said about you not being nice." I laughed as his head falls to my shoulder. "Don't laugh," he says, but laughs himself. "Your whole body shakes when you laugh and that makes this weird."

"'Cause this isn't weird already," I laughed again.

"Shut up," he chuckles.

Jack sits down on the other side of Zack. He looks at me and Alex, then shakes his head. "I don't even wanna know what happened."

"Alex sat on Zack's lap, Zack pushed Alex off, Alex sat on Sam," Rian explains.

"Oh, alright then."

I tried to shift a little which makes Alex say, "Stop it. That's even more weird!"

I laughed again. "This really can't get much more weird."

"Yes, it could. I could do a lot of this that would make this weird."

"Don't do those things."

"I'm not. I was just making a point. Why do you smell so good?" he said all in one breath.

"I don't know," I said.

"He's right, though. You do smell good," Rian says.

"Thanks, I guess?" I said.

"Alright, alright. All smelling Sammy distractions aside," Alex starts, "her lap is very comfortable as well."

I look down at Alex. "Seriously?" I chuckled.

He nods, enthusiastically. "Seriously."

"Well, this is a new one," Jack mumbles.

"Can I get up, Alex?"

"Yes." Alex stands up, so I stand up and he takes my spot, then I sit on Jack's lap, cuddling into him.

"Hi." I smile at him.

He chuckles. "Hey."

"I kinda wanna sit upside down again," Zack says.

"Go for it," Alex says. Zack shrugs and flips over, sitting the same way he was a short time ago. Alex eyes Zack, then follows his actions. "Whoa, this is a new perspective."

"Not so weird, are we now?" Rian says.

Alex shakes his head. "No."

Jack looks at me after looking at both Alex and Zack for a second. "Can I do that?" I shrug and move so I was sitting on the arm of the couch as Jack flips over. "Whoa. This is cool!"

I look at Rian. "I've never seen people get this fascinated over a way to sit on a couch."

He scoffs. "This isn't exactly the first time something like this has happened." I laughed and Rian flips around as well.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: The Weekend**

**Sammy's POV**

Alex looked at me. "Can you just do that one more time? That was really cool."

I rolled my eyes before sitting upside down on the couch again, then putting both feet on the floor and flipping off, for the third time in the last minute. "Fascinated?"

"Very." He nods.

"Man, some of the shit she does," Rian said from the kitchen, "it's, like, how the fuck is that even possible?"

I sat down between Alex and Jack, with Zack on the other side of Alex. "Magic."

"Rian, what are you doing in there?" Alex asked, looking over the back of the couch at him.

He shrugs. "There's no place to sit."

Jack grabs my waist and pulls me onto his lap. "Now there is."

I curled up against Jack, laying my head on his shoulder, as Rian sat down in between Jack and Alex. "Sammy, I have a question," Rian said.

"What's your question?"

"Do you promise to be honest?"

"You're scaring me, Rian."

"I just wanna know if you knew if Cassadee was coming out here anytime soon."

I thought a second. "Um...no. I don't. But I can ask her?" I suggested.

"Will you, please?"

"Mmhmm." I nod and stand up, then walk back to Jack's room saying, "I'll ask her now."

I searched around Jack's room for a second, eventually finding my phone under a pillow. I sent Cassadee a text as I walked out into the living room. "Sammy!" I slid my phone into the back pocket of my jeans as Alex gave me a bear hug.

"Hey," I said, hugging him back.

He stepped back and shrugs. "We're leaving."

I nod. "That's cool. I'll see you later, then?"

"Yes," Rian came up beside Alex, "because Alex insists that we have a New Years Eve party and you're coming over."

"Ah. Okay, then."

"Don't act so excited," Alex said.

I chuckled. "Sorry." I looked at Rian. "I'll tell you what Cassadee says."

"Please and thank you." He smiles.

Alex looks over his shoulder. "Zackary?"

Zack looks up from his spot on the couch. "Yes?"

"Ready?"

He shrugs. "I guess so."

They leave and then Jack pulls me into a tight hug, picking me up to make us level. He kisses me and my arms wrapped around his neck. Our lips moved together for a minute, but he sets me down and says, "I have wanted to do that since they got here." I giggled and leaned up to kiss him again. His hands moved to my face as he kisses back and I slide my tongue into his mouth, making him moan.

"Well, that's a new one."

Jack and I both jumped, causing us to break apart and me to squeal a little. Jack put his face in his hands and sighed. I groaned and looked at Alex. "What the hell."

"I forgot my phone. I'm sorry!" Alex leaned over the couch and picked up his phone off the cushion, then held it up to show us. "See?" He puts it in his pocket, but I see a key in the other hand and I know it's the spare to Jack's house. "Didn't take you guys long." He smirks.

Jack looked up at the ceiling and shook his head. I grabbed the key from Alex's hand, then started pushing him out the door. "Go away, Alex."

"Hey! I didn't meant to-"

"I don't give a shit." I pushed him out the door, shut it, locked it, then walked back over to Jack. I slammed the key down and looked at Jack. "I hate your friends."

Jack chuckles a little. "I hate them, too. But you didn't have to take his key." He bites his lip, thoughtfully. "So...now what?"

"We do this." I kissed his lips. "And this." I kissed him again. "Oh, yeah. And this." I kissed him, deeper this time.

He smiles and says, "I'm okay with that," kissing me again. His hands move to my waist and he starts walking me backwards, never breaking contact with my lips.

"Where are we going?" I asked, stopping him.

He smirks. "My room," he says before kissing me again. He starts walking me backwards again. I hear a door shut and feel the back of my knees hit his bed. I let myself fall back, taking him with me.

**XXXX**

"Fuck a whore," I mumbled, finally getting my skinny jeans up after the eighth jump and two minutes after I started putting them on. After buttoning them, I walked into the bathroom to find Jack straightening his hair.

"Hey," he said.

"These things? These things on my legs?" I pointed to my pants and he raised an eyebrow at me after glancing down at them. "They're the reason why I never had sex in high school. They're too damn hard to get on and off!"

Jack breaks out laughing and puts his face in his hands. He looks up after a second and says, "They're not that-"

"You keep that thought to yourself," I said, only guessing what he was going to say. I turned to walk out of the bathroom, but Jack wrapped his arms around me from behind and laid his head on my shoulder.

"Don't go yet," he says.

"I have to finish getting ready," I said.

"No," is all he says. Not really caring anymore, I just leaned back into him and laid my head against his. "Will you straighten my hair?" he asks after a couple seconds.

Laughing, I said, "So, that's what you wanted..."

He chuckles. "No. I just don't want to do it myself."

"You wanna take the risk of me burning you with a flat iron?"

"It's the same risk if I do it."

"Okay. So, you trust me enough to hold a flat iron to your face? I don't even trust myself with that."

He hesitates. "Good point."

"Mmhmm." I move out of Jack's arms, cross my own arms, and lean against the sink.

"I still can't believe you dyed your hair," Jack says, starting to straighten his hair again.

"Jack, it's been, like, two days you've seen me like this," I said with a laugh.

"So? I'm used to seeing you with black hair, and now you have half bleach blonde hair."

I shrug. "I just wanted something different."

"It's very different, but in a good way."

I smirk and say, "Well, thank you then," before walking out of the bathroom and back to Jack's room. I changed into the black shirt I had picked out, then walked back to the bathroom. I leaned against the door frame, my arms crossed.

Jack glances at me, but looks back at the mirror. I move so my back is leaning against the door frame. "You take forever!" I whined, sliding down the door frame until I was sitting on the floor. He chuckles, but sets his straightener down and holds his hand out for me. I shake my head. "Nah, I'm waiting here until you're done."

"That's what you're wearing to the party?" He raises an eyebrow.

I look down at my skinny jeans, converse, and black tank top. "Is this bad?"

"No. I figured you'd just wear a dress or something."

"Really? Me in a dress?"

"You wore one to the VMAs."

"That was a special occasion."

"So, what? The party's not special enough for you?"

"Jack, what are you gonna wear?"

"Skinny jeans. JAGK shirt."

"And what I'm wearing isn't good enough?"

Jack doesn't say anything for a few seconds, he just kind of stared down at me. Eventually, he narrows his eyes and says, "Touché," before straightening his hair again.

**XXXX**

An hour later, Jack and I were walking into Alex and Rian's house. I followed him into their kitchen, where Alex, Rian, and Zack were gathered all around the island.

"Hey, they're here," Alex said, looking up.

I smiled and walked over to him. "What'cha doin'?"

"They're being women and can't decide what to put out for the party," Zack answered before walking into the living room. Rian followed after him mumbling something about it being all Alex.

I raised an eyebrow, but just shook my head. Jack walked over to stand next to me after getting a can of beer out of the fridge. "You know what I just realized?"

"What?" Alex and I asked together.

Jack looked at me. "You have a faint Tennessee accent."

I thought about this as Alex said, "Wow. I never thought about that before."

"It comes out more when I yell," I said.

"Well, yeah. I've heard you yell before, so I know that, but..." Jack trailed off and looked at Alex when Alex started snickering. "What?"

"I bet you have heard her yell before," Alex says, smirking and turning around to open the fridge door.

It took me a second, but I got it once Jack started chuckling. I leaned forward to rest my elbows on the counter and my face in my hands. "Alex," I laughed, not looking up. "What the hell?"

"I'm sorry!" he chuckles. "I couldn't resist."

I peeked through my fingers before looking up completely to see them both looking at me. "Whaaaaatttt?" I whispered, loudly.

Jack shook his head. "Nothing."

But Alex smirked and then shook his head. "I'm not going to ask what I was going to. Never mind."

I sighed, quietly. "You're such a creep."

"How do you know it was going to be something dirty?"

"Because you're Alex."

Jack points at me, but looks at Alex. "She's got a point."

"You take her side? Whatever happened to bros before hoes?"

"She's right. Yes, I take her side."

"Why?"

"Because I love her." Jack wrapped his arms around me from the side.

I stick my tongue out at Alex, who pouts. "You guys are mean."

I pull myself away from Jack, then walk over to Alex and hug him. "I love you!"

Alex chuckled and hugs me back. "Love you, too, Sam."

"Group hug!" Jack yelled right before sandwiching me between him and Alex.

"Why are we group hugging?" I hear Zack say, but then feel two bodies hug us as well, encircling me.

"Don't question this, Zack," Rian said.

"Hey, guys?" I said.

Alex and Rian said, "Yeah?" as Zack and Jack said, "What?"

"Can you let me go?"

They all laugh lightly, but step back. Alex and Rian start talking about the party and Zack gets a phone call that he takes outside. Jack takes my hand and pulls me to the living room and down next to him on the couch. He smiles. "Hey."

I giggled a little. "Hi."

"We're coming in there. So, if you're making out, stop," Alex calls from the kitchen. Jack looks over his shoulder for a second, but connects our lips just as Alex walks into the living room. "Guys, we told you to stoooop!" he whines.

I pull back from Jack, laughing. "No," he says, kissing me, "I won't." He kissed me again.

"Yeah, but I will. Dude, stop." I was laughing, but pushed on his chest lightly.

Jack pouts and looks at Alex. "Cock block."

"You know it!" Alex walks over to Jack and sits on his lap.

"Get off, Lex!" Jack tried to push Alex off, but Alex wraps his arms around Jack tightly.

"I'm not going anywhere," Alex says.

"Do you guys want some alone time?" I asked.

"Yes, Sammy. I'm stealing your boyfriend forever and ever." Alex lays his head on Jack's shoulder.

"Sam, get him off me!" Jack whines, pouting at me.

"Alex?" I said.

"Yeah?" He opens one eye.

"Can you please get off my boyfriend's lap?"

"I don't wanna!"

I look at Jack and shrug. "I tried." Jack looks down at Alex and sighs before looking back at me.

"Punch him in his balls."

Alex's eyes popped open and he shook his head, furiously. "No. Don't do that."

"Then get off my lap or I'll do it myself."

Alex falls off Jack's lap and sits between Jack and I. He looks at me before wrapping me in a tight hug. "Thank you."

I laughed. "For what?"

"Not hitting me."

"Do you wanna cuddle with someone, Alex? Because you keep hugging people and you sat on Jack's lap...and you haven't let go of me yet."

Alex nods and lays his head on my shoulder. "Kind of. And I chose you since Lisa isn't here yet."

I look over at Jack. "Am I gonna get beat up by an angry girlfriend?"

He shook his head. "Alex could've said no. You're kind of just being an innocent bystander."

I look down at Alex, who's just kind of staring ahead. He pulls his legs up on the couch as I ask, "Where is Lisa?"

"She's coming," Alex answers as Rian and Zack walk into the living room.

Rian looks at Zack. "When he does stuff like this," he gestures to me and Alex, "I get really confused."

Zack looks at me. "Sammy, who's girlfriend are you?"

I point to Jack as he says, "Mine."

"Alex wants to cuddle someone and Lisa's not here yet. So, this happened." I look down at Alex. "Can I get up?"

"No!" Alex tightens his arms around me. "Never."

"Well, what if I walk in?"

We all look up at the front door to see Lisa standing there. "Lisa!" Alex yells before getting up, walking over to her grabbing her hand, skipping back to the couch, pulling her down on the couch next to him, wrapping his arms around her, then laying his head on her shoulder. In the mean time, I had moved over to Jack, who put his arm around my shoulders.

Lisa chuckles. "Hi." She looks at me. "Hey, Sammy. Long time no see."

I nod. "Very true. Hi." I smile.

"And then he does stuff like this, and I understand everything again," Rian says.

Zack rolls his eyes, but laughs. "And then Rian gets confused really easily, and now I'm the only single one," he finishes, pouting a little.

We all just kind of look at Zack for a minute, except Alex since he's staring ahead with a blank expression. "Zack needs a girlfriend," Lisa finally says.

"I don't need one. I just want one."

_Didn't I just go through this with Aiden? _I thought to myself.

"Here we go again," I mumbled.

**Author's Note-**

**I dislike this chapter. Yup. BUT I already have the next two written and I said I would put something up today so….voila! (I totally never say that word in normal conversation). Anyways…..See you tomorrow : )**

**-Kelsey**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: The Party**

**Sammy's POV**

So the party started about nine, and it's now eleven-thirty. Jack is trashed, as is Alex. I haven't seen Zack or Rian in about forty-five minutes, so I have no idea about them. I do know that there is a bunch of people I don't know here, I'm not even a little buzzed, I was talking to Lisa but she went to the bathroom and I haven't seen her for about twenty minutes and now I'm looking for Jack.

Caught up? I hope at least someone knows what's going on.

"Hey!" I turn around from my spot by the counter to see Alex.

"Yeah?" I asked. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pinned me against the counter. "What the fuck are you-" I cut off when he started to kiss my neck. "DUDE!" I pushed him off me.

"Lisa, what the-"

"I'm not Lisa!" I smacked him across the face.

I think it sobered him up a little. "What!" His eyes widened and a look of fear came over his face. "Shit! Shit!" Alex brought a hand to his mouth and looked down at the floor, his eyes still the size of saucers. "I'm so screwed. Jack's gonna kill me. Lisa's gonna kill me!"

"Alex!" I tried to grab his hands, but he wouldn't let me.

"Stop it!" He was slapping at my hands.

"ALEX!" I got a hold of his wrists and made him look at me. He was breathing hard, his eyes still wide. "You are drunk. It doesn't matter. Chill the fuck out." I spoke calmly.

"But I was going to try to get you to have sex with me and-"

"Alex." I cut him off. "Take a deep breath. It's okay," I said, trying to stifle a laugh. Thankfully, There was only three other people in the kitchen and they were too fucked up to notice.

"Okay." He lets out a heavy breath. "Do you know where Lisa is?"

"Last time I saw her, she was talking to Jack. But that was twenty minutes ago and I haven't seen them since."

"Okay. Thank you." I let go of his hands and he turns to walk out of the kitchen, but I stopped him.

"And Alex?"

"Yeah?" Alex looks back at me.

"Make sure the girl is Lisa before you try to seduce her."

"Right!" He turns and walks out of the kitchen.

I sighed and shook my head before turning back around. "Sammy!"

Fighting the urge to scream, "What!" I turn around and see Jack. "Oh. Hey." I smiled.

"I'm bored. Dance with me!" He took my hand and started pulling me out of the kitchen.

"No, Jack. I don't want to," I said, slightly whining.

"That's fine. We can do something else." I get confused, but then he wiggles an eyebrow and plants a sloppy kiss on my lips.

"Jack." I put a hand on his chest to push him back. "Not here."

"Why not!" He stomps his foot and pouts at me.

"We're not at your house."

He sighs, "Fine."

An hour and a half later it was 2012 and I was trying to get Jack in his car. "Let me drive!" he says, whining a little.

"Jack, you're too fucking wasted to drive," I said through gritted teeth. "Where the fuck are your keys?"

"My pocket," Jack replies, giggling a little.

"Give them to me." He was leaning up against the car and I was standing in front of him.

"No." He sticks his tongue out at me.

"I'm so gonna regret this," I whispered to myself. Guessing, I reach my fingers into Jack's right front pocket.

Before I pull out his keys, a look of shock comes over his face and he whispers, "Sammy?" looking from my hand to my eyes.

I pull his keys out of his pocket and hold them up to show him. "No," is all I say.

Jack pouts and says, "You're not fun."

"You love me."

"I do." As he said this I pushed him over a little so I could open the passenger door.

"Sam?" he says before I can get the door open.

Feeling a little annoyed, I said, "Yes?" He pushed me up against the car, pressing his lips to mine hard. I kiss back, but said, "Jack, let's get you home first."

"No!" He takes both of my hands. "We can do it in the car!" He shrugs and giggles a little.

"No!" I narrow my eyes at him, but move and open the door, then point at the car. "Get in."

"No!" Jack stomps his foot again.

I sighed to myself before saying the only thing I knew would work. "The faster you get in, the faster we go to your house, the faster we can do this." I took his face in my hands and kissed him, pushing my tongue in his mouth.

We parted and I looked at him to see a grin spread across his face. "Okay!" He walks around me and falls into the car, shutting the door quickly. I raised an eyebrow after him, but shake my head and get into the car myself.

Driving Jack home was one of the weirdest things I've ever had to do. He kept rambling about stuff I didn't even pay attention to and screamed the lyrics to whatever song came on the radio that he knew. When we got to his house, he took my hand and dragged me inside. I shut the door and locked it.

Jack was in the kitchen when I turned around from the door and started walking in there. "Why aren't you naked yet?" he asks.

I raised an eyebrow, but said, "Just- Go to your room. I'll be there in a minute."

"Okay!" He ran to his room.

_I've never seen him this excited before_, I thought. I set his keys down on the counter, took off my shoes, then walked back to his room. I raised an eyebrow at a now past out Jack, who was laying on his bed, face down.

"Seriously?" I said out loud to myself.

**XXXX**

The next morning I woke up with Jack holding me against him, laying behind me. I yawned and stretched a little, pulling myself away from him. I was searching for my jeans, finally finding them and pulling my phone from my pocket to check the time. "12:31."

"Jesus," I whispered, then set my phone down on the bed by the pillow. Deciding I'd let Jack sleep because he'd have a hangover, I got out of bed, grabbed clothes and other stuff I would need to take a shower, then walked out of his room quietly.

Thirty minutes later, I was dressed and ran a brush through my hair. When I walked into Jack's room he wasn't in there. I put my stuff up, then walked out into the living room to see Jack on the couch, just sweat pants on. I sat next to him. "Hey."

He looks at me and smiles before looking back at the TV. "Hey. I'm sorry I passed out last night."

I smirk and shrug. "Didn't bother me."

"It bothered me," he says, pouting a little.

I laughed a little before asking, "Does your head hurt?"

"Mmhmm," he answers almost immediately and nods. "But I took aspirin, so I'll be okay."

I nod, then scenes from last night play in my head. "Jack, can I tell you something without you getting upset?"

"Um, I guess so." He looks at me. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong. It's just...last night-"

"Alex tried to sleep with you thinking you were Lisa?"

I blink a few times and shake my head. "What?" I said. "How'd you know?"

Jack shrugs. "He called about fifteen minutes ago and told me because he felt bad."

"So...are you mad?" I asked after a second.

Jack shook his head. "No. He was drunk and you stopped him." He turns to me with a hand over his heart. "You're faithful." He wipes away a nonexistent tear. I laughed, but was thinking, _Talk about irony_. His arms wrapped around me, pulling me to him. "I love you."

I smile and kiss his cheek. "I love you, too."

He smirks. "I know." I roll my eyes, but smile, and he adds, "Your hair is wet."

"Yes, it is." I nod.

"It makes me want to go take a shower."

"So, go take one."

"But I don't want to leave you out here alone."

"I left you alone."

He hesitated before saying, "Good point."

I kiss him. "Go take a shower. I'll be fine."

"Mkay." He lets me go and stands up, but stops walking once he gets behind the couch. "You know," he starts, "if you wouldn't have took a shower already, we could've taken one together."

"Jack, you're too clumsy for that." I move so I'm sitting on my knees so I can ruffle his hair. He pouts, then sticks his tongue out at me, making me laugh, before turning and walking down the hallway.

I wait about ten minutes before getting up and walking back to Jack's room, stealing the blanket off his bed, then carrying it back to the living room. I lay down on the couch, curled up under the blanket as I wait for Jack to be done.

I didn't notice he was done until he was standing over me, the same sweatpants on but he had a t-shirt now. "You stole my comforter?"

I nod. "I got cold."

He sits down on the other side of the couch before laying down behind me under the blanket as well. I feel his arms go around me and I relaxed against him. "You're warm," he says, nuzzling his nose in my now semi wet hair.

"I guess so," I said, giggling a little.

"You laugh a lot."

"I do?" I asked.

He nods. "But it's okay." He kisses my cheek, then relaxes against me. Snickering, he says, "Hey, Sam?"

"What?" I reply.

"Kissing burns six-point-four calories per minute...wanna work out?"

I snort and break out in a fit of giggles. "Dude."

"Yeah. Cheesy pick up line."

I was still laughing, but said, "That was genius."

"The correct answer was yes."

"Was it?"

"You're supposed to yes!"

I laughed again, then said, "No."

"Sam," he says, slightly laughing, and rests his head against my shoulder.

Still chuckling, I move so I can peck his lips. "Happy?"

"No." He kisses me again, longer this time. I let my lips move with his until he stops, which takes a few minutes. He buries his head in my hair, pulls me closer to him, and says again, "You're, like, really warm."

I curled up against him. "I've been laying under a blanket for forty- five minutes and now you're right here. What'd you expect?"

"Oh, you know, for you to be freezing." I giggled and he added, "I missed hearing your laugh."

"You can't say stuff like that and not expect me to blush," I said...well, blushing.

"I do it on purpose," Jack said, moving back to put his forehead against mine.

I lean up a little to press my lips to his softly. He nuzzles his nose in my neck before he starts to kiss it lightly. "Jaaack, noooo," I whined, rolling over so I was facing away from him.

"Why?" he chuckles and begins to peck my neck again.

"Because I don't need a hickey."

He laughs, "I love you," his arms tighten, and his head hits my shoulder.

"Well, that's completely one-sided."

Jack gasped and said, "What!"

I laughed and looked at him. "I'm totally lying. I love you, too." I kissed his nose.

He pouts, whines, then hides his nose in my shoulder. "Don't make fun of it."

"I'm not making fun of your nose." Since I couldn't see his nose, I kissed his forehead.

"Okay, I believe you." I sighed to myself a little before shifting my feet. Jack laughs, which is more of a giggle, and says, "Don't do that. That tickles me."

"Really?" I smile at him before moving my feet again. I guess my jeans hitting his ankles was tickling him.

"Stop it!" he whines, moving his feet over a little.

"Fine," I sighed, then stuck my tongue out at him.

"Hey, Sammy?" Jack said after a minute.

"What?" I replied.

"Your birthday is in two days." He pokes my stomach lightly.

I nod. "It is." Then my eyes widened a little as I realized something. "Shit. I'm gonna be nineteen in two days." I brought my hands to my face and added, "Jack, I'm gonna be nineteen in two days!"

"I can't tell if you're shocked or excited," he said, laughing lightly.

"Well, kinda both," I rubbed my arm a little. "It's my birthday, so I'm excited, but I don't ever wanna really grow up."

"I understand." Jack nods.

"Mmhmm. You would, too."

"Don't judge me and my immature ways."

"I love you and your immature ways."

"I know. I love you and your's, too."

"Alright, glad that we established we love each other."

"We established that a long time ago, Sammy."

"No, we didn't. It was all lies."

"What!" he cried.

"Jesus, Jack. If you haven't figured out by now that I love you, you are never going to," I said, laughing a little.

"Sammy?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you, too."

I grinned to myself before placing my hands over his, my fingers falling into the cracks between his own fingers.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Don't Blame The World, It's The Dj's Fault**

**Sammy's POV**

Alex, Rian, and Zack came over later that day at around five. As soon as they got there, I realized I had to go to the bathroom, so I did. Upon walking out, I notice them all talking about me. I hid around the corner, listening to them and slightly peeking around the wall.

They were all laughing, but Jack said, "So, guys, Sammy's birthday is Tuesday...What do I get her?"

"Your dick," Alex says, making them laugh and me scoff to myself quietly.

"No, seriously," Jack starts again, as serious as Jack could get, "do you have any ideas whatsoever?"

Zack and Rian shrugged, but Alex was the one that answered again. "All girls like jewelry."

"I don't know. I mean...have you ever seen Sam with any jewelry on other than earrings and her lip ring?"

"Bracelets," Zack points out.

"Eh...I'm not counting those. They were never, like, fancy."

"Man...I bet she'd be a good kisser with that lip ring." I was looking down, so I didn't see who mumbled that nor could I tell by the voice.

"Damn it," I whispered since I couldn't tell. When I looked up, they all looked at Jack.

"Hey, I'm not telling you anything," Jack said, holding his hands up in surrender.

"That's okay," Zack said. "Alex would know."

Alex shook his head. "She didn't have a lip ring when I kissed her."

"Guys, really?" Jack said. "Can we stop talking about kissing my girlfriend, please?"

They laughed again. "Okay, sorry," Alex said.

"Why don't you just ask her what she wants?" Rian asked, changing the subject back.

Jack shrugged. "I did. She said she didn't know." True story.

Alex exclaimed, "Which is why you could get her your dick!"

"Dude!" Jack said. "I'm being serious here!"

"I am, too!" Alex laughed.

Jack looked at Zack. "Can you smack him? You're closest."

"NO!" Alex yelled and cowered on the couch. He peeks before sitting normally again.

I started walking back into the living room when Jack said, "You deserve it."

"Deserve what?" I asked.

Alex and Zack snickered, Rian just shook his head but he was smiling, and Jack smiled at me before shaking his head. "Alex is being a dick. Nothing new."

I nodded and hummed in response, then sat between Alex and Zack on the couch. Rian was on the other side of Zack and Jack was in the kitchen on the bar stool. Alex lays down so his head is in my lap and his feet are hanging over the arm of the couch. "Having fun?" I asked.

"Mmhmm." He smiled up at me and nodded as Rian walked into the kitchen.

Alex closed his eyes and I glanced over the back of the couch to see Rian and Jack whispering about something like they were arguing. They stopped and Jack whispered a loud, "No. Rian, don't!"

Rian said, looking up at me, "Hey, Sammy? What do you want for your birthday?"

I shrugged and waited a second before answering. "I don't know."

"Jack's dick," Alex said, bluntly.

I glared down at him and he grinned up at me. "I should slap you," I said.

"Push him off your lap," Zack said, shrugging.

"NO!" Alex wrapped his arms around my middle, his face against my stomach.

I blinked down at him. "I feel so uncomfortable."

"Yeah..." Alex pulled back and sat up. "That's weird."

"Very." I nodded.

"You know," Zack started, "it seems like you keep finding these things that are awkward that you do to Sam." He pauses, narrows his eyes in thought, then says, "And that is meant to be as dirty as it sounds."

"Whoa," I said as Alex said, "What?" We both looked at Zack.

"Well, okay. Think about it-"

"Guys, I'm right here," Jack cut Zack off.

"Sorry," we all mumbled.

"No! No! I wanna hear this!" Rian said, sitting in front of the couch so he was facing us. His legs were cross, his hands folded together, his chin resting on his hands. It reminded me of a little kid waiting for story time.

"Jack?" I looked over at him. He sighed, but got up and walked back to his room. I looked at Zack. "You were saying?"

"Okay, so," Zack held up a finger as he named these things off, "you kissed her and that was awkward, you sat on her lap and that was awkward, you laid down on her lap and that was awkward, you both fell off the bed in her hotel room and she fell on top of you when we were in LA for the VMA's-"

"Kinky." Rian smirked. I rolled my eyes and looked back at Zack.

"-and that was awkward, you tried to sleep with her-" Zack was now on his second hand and Rian cut him off.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, tell me that story please," he said.

"Hang on, Rian. Go on, Zack," Alex said.

"Okay, so that was awkward. You walked in on her and Jack making out and that was awkward," I blushed at that and Zack paused before adding, "more than once." He stopped and thought some more. "That's all I got. The only thing that wasn't awkward for you was when you were pretty much like 'give me a blow job' last time she was here."

"That was awkward for me," I threw in.

"Oh. Sorry." Zack half smiled.

"He's right," Alex said, looking down at the floor. "So, we're just friends. It's established." He smiled and held his hand up for a high five.

I shook my head, but was smiling, then gave Alex a high five. Rian the pulled on my pant leg, so I looked down at him. "Yes?"

"Can you tell me the story about Alex trying to sleep with you?" he asks bluntly, but innocently- if that was even possible.

"Alex was drunk at the party, he thought I was Lisa-"

"You don't have to say anymore," Rian cut me off and stood up.

I looked at Alex, confusion all over my face. "Have you done that before?"

Alex looked away from me, at the floor. "Maybe."

"Oh, my," I mumbled.

"Makes for a good story, though." Rian collapsed on the couch on the other side of Zack.

"Hey, aren't we missing Jack?" Zack asked.

I nodded, then looked over the couch to call out, "Barakitty!"

He doesn't come out just yet, so I shrugged and turned back around. No less than ten seconds later, Jack's arms wrapped around my neck loosely and his head laid on mine. "You're not leaving me for Alex, right?"

I scoffed, moved Jack's arms, then looked up at him. "Yes, Jack. I'm sorry."

"What! He's mine!" Jack exclaimed.

"Whoa, guys. When I imagine people fighting over me, it's usually not Jack and his girlfriend," Alex said.

"So, you admit that you have imagined them fighting over you?" Zack said.

"What? No, I never said that," Alex defended.

"You do love us!" I said before wrapping my arms around Alex, my ear against his chest.

He chuckled and hugged me back. "You are so weird."

"Pot calling the kettle black."

"Alright. Touché."

"You're warm."

"And this isn't awkward?" Zack asked.

Alex shook his head. "It's just a hug, Zack."

"You want one, too?" I pulled back from Alex just to put my arms around Zack, a repeat of what I did to Alex.

Zack laughed lightly and hugged me back. "You are a weird one."

"No need to make fun." I moved back from Zack and looked at Rian. "Want a hug, too?"

He shook his head. "Maybe later."

"Okay." I looked up at Jack since he was still standing behind the couch. "What about you?"

As I said this, Alex's phone started ringing. He got up and walked down the hallway saying an, "I'll be back," and answering his phone. Jack sat down where Alex was, then held open his arms. I put mine around him, hugging him like I hugged Alex and Zack, only I didn't let go of him.

"Sammm! What do you want for your birthdaaaayyy!" Rian whined.

I laughed and Jack added, "Yeah, seriously, we have no idea what to get you."

I moved back from Jack, brought my legs to my chest, then shrugged as Jack moved one arm to my waist again. "I don't know..."

"Well, think of something! Or we're gonna end up getting you nothing."

"Well, you won't end up getting her nothing," Alex walked back into the living room, a smirk on his face.

I rolled my eyes to myself, hiding it with a blink. I looked at Alex and said, very bluntly, "Alex, we really don't have sex as much as you think."

Jack burst out laughing, Rian and Zack both yelled, "Whoa!" and Alex just squinted his eyes closed after a second, shook his head, then put his face in his hands.

"Mental image I did not need," he said.

Zack snorted, Rian scoffed, Jack was still chuckling, and I didn't really do anything but turn back around in my seat. "Your fault," I mumbled.

**XXXX**

"Sammy, what's that on your back?"

"Huh?" I twist around a little, trying to see what was on my back, even though I knew it wouldn't work. I look at Alex, who's still sitting on his couch next to Rian. "What are you talking about?"

Alex gets up and starts to move my hair, but Jack walks out of the kitchen and says, "It's a butterfly."

Alex raises an eyebrow at Jack while I move my hair out of the way, then he looks down at my back. "It's pink."

"It's also purple," I said.

"But it's pink. You don't like pink."

"That pink is okay." He started tracing it with his finger, making me shiver and move away from him. "That was creepy. Don't do that."

He shrugs. "Sorry. I wanted to touch it."

Jack snorts, then grabs my hand and pulls me to the couch and made me sit next to him. At the moment, my phone vibrating in my pocket. Jack looked at me. "I really hope that was your cell phone."

I laugh lightly and pull my phone out of my pocket, noticing a text from Cassadee. Jack put his arm around my shoulders and was reading my phone as well. The text says, _"Hey...so, I'm gonna come out there, too...but I wanna surprise Rian..."_

I look up at Jack, who shrugs. "We can pick her up," he whispers.

"Okay," I reply quietly before texting Cassadee back.

"What are you guys going on about?" Zack asks from the other side of Rian, who was next to me.

"Nothing," Jack and I say together.

"Mmhmm. Sure," Alex says, walking back into the living room. Jack pulls me onto his lap so Alex can take my spot on the couch. "You guys are so couply."

"I haven't seen her in four months," Jack replies bluntly as I curl up into him.

"Alex, you feeling left out?" I ask.

"Yes." He pouts.

Rian gets up, probably knowing what I was going to say next, and went into the kitchen. I shrug. "Cuddle Zack."

Alex looks at Zack and holds open his arms. Zack punches Alex's arm. "Don't touch me."

"Ow, dude," Alex grabs his arm where Zack punched him, "not cool."

I raise an eyebrow and share a look with Jack, but look back at Alex. "You are such a girl."

"No, I'm not."

"Yeah, you are."

"No. I'm not."

"Yeah. You are."

"Sam."

"Alex."

"I'm not."

"Bro. You are."

"This is such a dumb argument," Jack laughs.

"Fine. Take her side," Alex says.

"Alex, you know you are my one true love."

"How do you feel about that, Sammy?" Zack asks me.

I think for a second, then shrug. "It's a beautiful thing."

"She's supportive. Let's go!" Alex tried to take Jack's face in his hands, but Jack wouldn't let him.

"Not in front of Sammy." Jack shakes his head. I stick my tongue out Alex and lay my head on Jack's shoulder.

Alex pouts at me. "You're mean."

"I love you, Alex."

He sighs and mumbles, "I love you, too."

**Author's Note-**

**Updating five days in a row = Epic Fail. Have two updates : )**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: So Much Love**

**Sammy's POV**

_**The Next Morning**_

I woke up to a phone ringing and quickly remembered I had fallen asleep on the couch at Jack's house. There was something under the blanket that kept moving. Feeling really confused, I let my eyes flutter open to see Jack sitting in front of the couch, his hand under the blanket. Oh, it was his phone ringing.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

He glanced at me, lifted the blanket up slightly, but kept moving his hand. "Trying to find my phone."

I rolled over on my side, but as soon as I did, his hand touched something. My eyes widened and I pushed his hand away and out from under the blanket. "That's not your phone."

He looked at me confused, but then a smile spread across his face and he broke out laughing once he realized what he touched. He put his face in his hands and was laughing so hard he fell over so he was laying down on the floor.

I kicked the blanket off of me and sat up. "Second base while looking for a cell phone. That's a new one." I said that as I got up and walked back to the bathroom. All it did was make Jack laugh even more.

When I walked out, Jack had found his phone and was texting, still sitting on the floor. He glanced up at me as I sat down on the couch, chuckled a little, then went back to his phone. But half a second later he was sitting next to me on the couch. "Sorry," he mumbled, fighting a smile.

I shook my head, but started laughing myself. Jack was laughing again as well. "You did that on purpose, didn't you?" I asked, still laughing.

He shook his head, still laughing also. "No. I promise I didn't."

"I don't believe you," I said and finally stopped laughing, but I still had a smile on my face. I rested my head in my hand.

"I didn't!" He laid his head on my shoulder and pouted.

"I'm kidding. Chill out," I laughed.

"Okay." He moved so he's laying down with his head in my lap and looked up at me. "So, now what do we do?"

I shrugged and looked down at him. "I don't know. What time is it?"

"Like, eight."

"And, now I know I wanna go back to sleep," I laughed lightly.

Jack stood up and grabbed my hand, pulling on it a little. "Come on, then."

"Will you carry me?"

"You liked to be picked up, huh?"

I shrugged. "Only when I'm lazy...or in this case, tired." He sighed lightly, but leaned down and picked me up bridal style. "Thanks, Jack," I said as he started walking back to his room.

He replied, kissing my forehead, "No problem, Sam."

He laid me down on his bed then crawled in next to me, his arms finding there way around me. "You're gonna stay with me?"

"Mmhmm." He nodded. "Eight is too early," he whines slightly.

I giggled and let my eyes fall shut, falling asleep in his arms.

**XXXX**

Four hours later, I woke up alone in Jack's bed. Stretching a little, I rolled over on my back and rubbed my eyes. I got up, running my fingers through my hair and walking out of Jack's room.

He's sitting on the couch, flipping through the channels on the TV. I walked over to the couch, sitting next to him. "Hey." I smiled.

"Hey," he replied, glancing at me with a smile, but looking back at the TV. "We have to go get Cassadee at four."

I nodded and stretched my arms a bit then rubbed my eyes again. "That's cool."

One of his arms went around my waist and he pulled me to him. I laid my head on his shoulder as he asked, "Are you still tired?"

I shrugged. "I just woke up, that's all." He mouthed an O and laid his head on mine.

This is pretty much what our day consisted of. Sitting around watching TV in our pajamas until about three. When three came around Jack and I both got dressed and I got to drive to the airport. We picked up Cassadee and now I was driving to Alex and Rian's house.

"You guys are quiet. Are you alright?" Cassadee asked, leaning forward so her arms were on the console.

"I'm concentrating," I said, honestly. I wasn't as bad as Jack when it came to driving, but if I wasn't really focused on it I would be.

Cass laughed a little then looked at Jack. "What's your excuse?"

He shrugged. "I'm just thinking."

"What about?"

He shrugged again. "Whatever. Nothing too important."

We were at a red light, so I looked at Jack for a second then shared a look with Cassadee. He was lying, but I don't know what about.

We got to Alex and Rian's house and all of us go out. I raised my fist to knock, but just shrugged and walked right in.

"Wow. I wouldn't have enough guts to do that," Cassadee whispered, making Jack snicker.

"Hey, Alex and Rian!" I called out.

I heard a faint, "What!" being called from somewhere. Then a groaned, "Ugh, Sam's here?"

"Fuck you, Alex," I said as he came around the corner and I went into the living room.

"Don't threaten me with a good time." He smirked.

I gave him a look as Jack walked in and put his arms around me from behind. "My girlfriend!" he said, pouting.

I leaned up and kissed his cheek before asking Alex, "Where's Rian?"

He shrugged. "We needed beer." I snorted and Alex added, "Why?"

Cassadee walked into the living room then. "Hey." She waved a little.

Alex's eyes widened a second. "Cassadee!" He skipped over to her, wrapping her in a hug.

She hugged him back, laughing lightly. "Hi, Alex." I moved myself away from Jack, but pulled him down on the couch next to me with his hand in mine. Cassadee sat next to me and smiled. "You're gonna love your birthday present."

"Oh, yeah. Hey, Cassadee?" Jack looked at Cassadee. "Can you keep Sam here so I can go buy her something?"

Cass nodded and I laid my head on Jack's shoulder. "What'cha gonna get me?"

"That," he tapped my nose, "is a secret."

"You don't know, do you?" Alex said, plopping down next to Cassadee.

"Yes, I do," Jack defended, then pouts.

"So, what is it?" I asked.

"You don't need to know." Jack composed himself quickly then looked at me.

"Yes, I do."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"No."

"No. Ha!" He stuck his tongue out at me.

"Fuck you."

"Don't threaten _me_ with a good time."

**XXXX**

"I think it's pretty ironic that you were singing a Hey Monday song in the shower."

I looked at Alex. "Was I really being that loud?"

He shook his head. "I walked by the bathroom and heard it. You have a good voice. And you got that song stuck in my head."

"Why, thank you. So, do you. And 6 Months is a good song."

"I know this."

As Alex said this, Jack came back holding a shirt to his face. "So warm."

"What?" Alex and I said together.

"It just came out of the dryer."

"I wish I had clothes here. I could cuddle some warm clothes right now," I said. Jack left the living room, but came back half a second later. He threw a blanket down on me before sitting in between me and Alex on the couch. I wrapped myself in the blanket and said, "You're awesome."

"So...I take it you like clothes right out of the dryer?" Alex asked.

"It's the best thing ever!"

Jack pointed to me, but looked at Alex. "She's right. It is very nice." He brought the shirt back to his face. "So. Warm."

Alex shook his head, but was laughing. This was when Rian, Zack, and Cassadee walked into Jack's house. Cassadee and Zack laughed at us, but Rian asked, "What are you doing?"

"Cuddling warm stuff that just came out of the dryer," Jack said, then pouted. "It's not warm anymore."

"The blanket isn't either." I unwrapped myself from it then got up to put it in Jack's room.

I didn't know Jack followed after me until he walked into the door as I was folding it. "Want some help?"

"Nah, I'm good," I replied, finishing folding the blanket. He dropped the t-shirt he had on his bed as someone called from the living room.

"You guys better not be going at it in there!"

Jack chuckled as I sighed. "Yup! We are! Don't come in here!" Jack kicked the door behind him shut. I looked up at him, confusion all over my face. "Just trust me," he whispered, standing in front of the door.

I sat down on the bed and Jack pressed his ear up against the door. After a second, he stepped back from the door, turned the knob slowly, then swung the door open. Alex and Zack fell into the room with Rian laughing from his spot up against the opposite wall. Cassadee was next to him, shaking her head at Alex and Zack.

I cocked my head to the side and crossed my legs, just looking down at them since they were laying on the floor. "You guys are creepers."

Zack stood up first, then helped Alex up. "How?" Alex asked.

"Most people don't want to listen to two people having sex." Jack held his hands up in surrender. "Just saying."

"True story." I walked out of Jack's room to go to the living room.

"In my defense, that is why I wasn't in front of the door," Rian said, following after me with Cassadee following him.

I sat down on the couch with Rian and Cassadee as Cass shrugged. "I just followed them."

"Thank you for that then," I said.

"So, Sam, your gonna be nineteen tomorrow," Cassadee said.

"I know," I said, smiling a little. Okay, FINE. I was a little excited...maybe.

"You're excited," she said, a knowing grin on her face.

"Yeah. I am actually," I said, laughing lightly.

"You should be," Rian said. "It's gonna be your birthday."

"I am, Rian!" I said.

"K, chill. Keep that excitement to a minimum."

"You're the one that brought it up."

**XXXX**

"Koala hug!"

"What?"

I jumped on Jack, wrapped my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist, latching onto him. He looked at me shocked as his arms moved to hold me up. "Koala hug," I said again, laying my head on his shoulder.

He chuckled and sat me down on his bed. "You sure you're turning nineteen tomorrow and not, say...I don't know. Twelve?" He raised an eyebrow down at me since he was still standing.

"That would make you a pedofile. Or, in simple terms, a cradle robber."

"Touché," he said, walking over to his closet. "Sam? It's eleven-forty- five. You're almost nineteen."

"I was born at nine AM. So, not just yet," I replied as I got up and went over to my bag.

"Sure. Let's be technical."

"Yup." I got pajamas out of my bag-basketball shorts and a tank top- and when I looked up Jack had already changed and was now laying on his bed on his back. I changed quickly then laid down next to him. "The ceiling is interesting, huh?"

He laughed a little and nodded. "Definitely."

My arms wrapped around him and one of his went around me. My head laid on his chest. "I feel like all we do is sleep and play video games."

Jack snorted and laughed. "That's because we're not touring right now."

"I know," I sighed, snuggling into him even more.

He moved some hair out of my face, but it kept falling back in my eyes. After he moved it the fifth time, I giggled and stopped his hand. "It keeps falling in your face!" he said, clearly frustrated. He then sighed.

I giggled again and pushed my hair behind my ear. "There," I said.

"Okay." He kissed my forehead. "That's all I wanted to do."

I smiled. "That's cute."

Jack chuckled. "Thanks. I try."

We laid there for a while, me falling asleep to his heartbeat in my ear and the rise and fall of his chest with his breathing. Eventually, he kissed me softly, but quickly, then whispered, "Happy birthday, Sammy."

I let my eyes fall shut and I mumbled a, "Thanks," before finally letting sleep take over me.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: 6 Months**

**Sammy's POV**

"Sammy." My shoulder was shook, but I didn't move. I don't want to get up yet and I didn't even bother to try to figure out who was talking to me. "Sammyyy!" My shoulder was shook again. "Samanthaaaa!"

I kept my eyes closed and mumbled, "What do you want?"

"Just open your eyes for a second." That was Alex.

I opened my eyes slowly to see Jack, Alex, Zack, Rian, and Cassadee all sitting on the bed. They all smiled and yelled, "Happy birthday!" together.

I smiled and rubbed my eyes. "Thanks."

Alex laid down and rolled over completely, making him face to face with me and really close. My eyes widened at how close he was and he said, "I don't know why I was chosen to say this, but we love you and...you're a cool person...and happy birthday...and I'm rambling because I don't know what to say and I'm a little freaked out because of how close I am to you right now and-"

"Alex," I cut him off, slightly laughing, "get to the point."

"Bottom line is," Cassadee started as Alex sat up, "we love you and happy birthday." She smiled.

"I love you guys, too. And, Alex?" I looked up at him. He raised an eyebrow down at me. "Don't get that close again."

"You don't have to worry about that." He got up and they all walked out of the room, but Jack.

He laid down next to me and said, "So, what do you want to do today?"

I looked at the clock then yawned. "I wanna go back to sleep," I said, honestly.

He chuckled and my eyes fell shut. After a second, his hand cupped my cheek and he kissed the opposite one. "I love you, Sam."

Opening my eyes again, I took the hand on my cheek and held it in my own. "I love you, too, Jack."

He pulled his hand away, got up, and said, "Go back to sleep. I'll wake you up in, like, an hour."

"Mkay," I murmured, curling into the blankets. He chuckled at me and I heard the door shut.

_**An Hour And A Half Later**_

I woke up on my own, stretched and rubbed my eyes, then sat up on the bed. I rubbed my eyes again and ran a hand through my hair before walking out of Jack's room and into the living room.

"SHE HAS AWAKENED!"

Rolling my eyes at Alex, I collapsed on the couch next to Cassadee. "Yup."

Jack jumped over the back of the couch, landing so his back was on the cushion with his feet hanging over the back. "What'cha wanna do today?" He looked up at me.

I made a sound that sounded like, "I don't know," and shrugged. Then brought my legs to my chest and put my arms around them.

Jack grabbed one of my hands and pulled on my arm a little. "Come on! It's your birthday! You get to decide."

"But I don't know what to do," I said.

Jack sat upright, moved his arms around my waist, and pulled me to him. "I have never met someone so content."

"Right?" Alex said from the kitchen.

"I'm sorry?" I laughed. "I can tell you I do want food. Pancakes to be exact."

Jack looked at everyone. "IHOP?"

Rian nodded. "IHOP."

Two hours later, I was back at Jack's house with just Jack. We were supposed to go over to Alex and Rian's house later though.

Jack was laying on his bed on his back and I was taking off my shoes. When I was done I sat on him, straddling his hips. "So, now what?"

He looked me up and down. "Well," he pushed me down then straddled me, "there is one thing..."

I furrowed my eyebrows together in confusion, but should've known what he meant since he started kissing my neck. I bit my lip, trying to stifle a moan. "Jack, not right now," I said.

"Why?" he chuckled and continued to kiss my neck.

I couldn't even choke out a reason, let alone think of the one I had. He kissed up to my lips, where I didn't let him go for a couple of minutes, or until his phone rang. He sighed, glancing at his pocket before looking down at me. I just shrugged and he got off of me, crossed his legs, and dug his phone out of his pocket.

"Hello?" he answered. "Yeah, she's right next to me." I looked at him when he said that. "Um, yeah." He got up and walked out of his room.

_Must be about me, _I thought.

I crawled to the edge of the bed and crossed my legs, waiting for Jack as I played with my toes. He came back and leaned against the door frame. "Alex said we're supposed to go over there at eight-ish."

I nodded, slowly. "That's cool."

"Sam?"

I looked up at him. "Hmm?"

"How come you don't like being called Samantha?"

I shrugged. "I just wasn't ever called that unless I was in trouble. It doesn't really bother me, I'm just not used to it."

"So, it sounds weird to you when people call you Samantha?""Yup. Not as weird as it used to be since Alex calls me it a lot. But, yeah."

"Alex does call you that a lot."

"Mmhmm."

"Hey, Samantha?" I gave him a look, but slowly smiled. He chuckled. "I had to do it, sorry."

"It's okay." I shrugged again. "So, now what?"

Jack shrugged himself and glanced at the clock before sighing. "We have seven hours before we go over there."

I looked at the clock as well to see it read, "1:05." I looked back at Jack. "Do you have any Red Bull?"

He shook his head. "Nope."

"Okay, well, Jack? For my birthday I want a Red Bull."

"Are you giving me permission to have an energy drink?"

"If need be. I just want a Red Bull." I fell back on to the bed, staring at the ceiling.

Jack grabbed both of my hands and pulled me off of the bed. "We're gonna go get a Red Bull." He dropped one of my hands, but started walking out of his room.

"Really?"

He laughed at me. "You're face lit up a lot. Yes, really." He continued, whining, "Come on! You made me want one!" I giggled and followed him out of his house.

Ten minutes later, we were back from the gas station down the street from Jack's house. We were both in the kitchen. "I don't know if we should do this," I said, looking up from my can at Jack.

He looked down at his can then up at me. "I don't know if we should either. But I don't think it really matters because I'm going to drink this." I stared down at my can, but opened it at the same time Jack opened his own. "Do you think we should chug it?"

I shook my head. "I'm not going to," I said as I walked around him and into his living room. I collapsed on his couch as I was taking a drink. Jack soon followed after me, collapsing next to me. "Hey."

"Hey," he replied, taking the TV remote from my hand.

"That's not fair."

All he did was stick his tongue out at me.

An hour later, I went into Jack's room since I heard my phone ringing. It was Aiden, Kaylee, and Kyle screaming happy birthday at me. I thanked them then hung up and saw Jack standing in the doorway again.

He ran up to me, pinned me down on the bed by my shoulders, and straddled me. "Hey." He smiled.

My eyes were wide from the shock of it. "Hi. Someone got hyper."

He shrugged. "Red Bull gives you wings."

I pushed him off of me, but then climbed on him the same way he did me. "That it does."

"Are you trying to tease me?"

"Maybe." I leaned down and started kissing his neck.

"It's working." I giggled and kissed his lips, but climbed off of him. I sat next to him and he propped himself up on his elbow. He pouted at me, but pushed me down on the bed again, starting to kiss my neck.

"Jack, no," I said, pushing on his chest to get him to stop.

He looked down at me. "I could change your mind."

"I could tease you before you could change my mind."

"Challenge accepted." He began kissing the other side of my neck. I gasped when he bit down then started sucking lightly. Giving up on suppressing it, I let myself moan and he looked down at me. "See?"

I flipped us over, my hands on his shoulders and looking down at him. "One moan. That's nothing." I leaned down and did the same thing to his neck that he did to me. He didn't moan, but his hand was on my arm and he dug his nails into it.

I was pulling his shirt off and he moved to let me, then I did the same thing just under his collar bone that I did to his neck. He still didn't moan, but I heard a faint whimper that made me smirk. I looked down at him, his eyelids fluttering open. "Well, don't stop!" he said, but smiled.

"I win." I stuck my tongue out at him before climbing off of him to sit next to him with my legs crossed.

"Yes! You did!" He sat up just to push me back down on the bed, me squealing as he did so, and connecting our lips.

**XXXX**

"SAM!"

"Oh, my gosh." Alex let me out of his bear hug. "You give awesome hugs."

He smiled. "Thank you."

Cassadee walked into the living room and leaned against the wall. "So, I don't know if I should do this, but I'm just gonna be blunt. We got you a cake."

"You guys just went all out, huh?" I asked, looking at Cassadee and Alex, or the only people in the living room.

"Nu-uh! We didn't throw you a party!" Alex said.

"That being said, she told us she didn't want one," Cassadee pointed out. "Or, at least, she told me." She shrugged and walked back into the kitchen.

Alex and I stared after her for a second, but Alex looked at me. He cocked his head to the side. "What's on your arm?"

"Huh?" I looked down at my arm and saw a small red scratch just below my sleeve. I rolled up my sleeve to reveal three more of the same scratches. "I don't-" I started, but cut off when I realized what they were. "I don't know," I said, running my fingers over the scratches that were from Jack's nails earlier today. Rolling my sleeve back down, I shrugged at Alex.

He stared at me a second, but shrugged. "Come on!" He grabbed my wrist and dragged me into the kitchen. As soon as we got in there, a knock on the front door is heard. Alex sighed, dropped my wrist, and walked back through the living room to the front door.

I went over to Jack and wrapped my arms around him. He smiled at me and put an arm around my shoulders as my head fell to his own shoulder. Alex walked back in with Lisa following him. "Hi, Sammy."

She waved to me. "Happy birthday."

I smiled and hugged her. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." She stepped back from me. "Whoa. Hey, Cassadee." Cass giggled and they started talking. I looked up at Jack and he kissed my forehead.

I spaced out for a good five minutes, just leaning against the counter. I snapped out of my thoughts when I heard Jack say, "Uh...I don't know. Hey, Sam? How long have we been dating?"

My gaze trailed up from the floor slowly to meet his eyes. "Um..."

"What kinda eighteen- Sorry. Nineteen year old girl are you not knowing how long you've been dating someone?" Rian said.

"The kind that plays bass in a band, so she loses track." I shrugged and looked at Jack.

"We need to figure this out," he said.

So, Jack and I started counting backwards and five minutes later we had came up with an answer. "Got it!" Jack said. We high-fived and he looked at Zack and Alex. "Almost seven months."

"That's it?" Alex cocked his head to the side, but shrugged. "Seems longer."

_**30 Minutes Later**_

"You guys really didn't have to do this. I would've been happy with a little cupcake and a single candle," I said as Alex pushed me down into a chair at their table. "The candle wouldn't have even had to be lit."

"You're lucky Alex didn't throw you a party," Cassadee started, standing by the chair on the opposite side of the table. "It was all I could do to keep him from having one."

"Any chance Alex gets to party," I said, looking at him.

He stuck his tongue out at me, taking a seat to my left. "Anybody bring a lighter from the kitchen?"

Rian, sitting in the chair Cassadee was standing by, handed a lighter to Alex. Jack tried to take it from him, but I stopped his hand. "I love you, but I do not trust you with fire," I said, looking up at him.

Everyone else laughed, but Jack pouted at me. Alex started lighting the candles.

I blew out the candles, we ate cake, and I opened presents. "Best Intentions!" I hugged Cassadee tightly.

She giggled and hugged me back. "You never stopped talking about how you couldn't go buy that album when it came out, but how bad you wanted it." She shrugged and stepped back from me. "Seemed pretty suitable."

"Cassadee's my current favorite person." I pointed to her, then sat back down on Alex and Rian's couch next to Jack. Apparently, he wanted to give me his present when we got back to his house.

I got some other stuff from Alex, Rian, and Zack. Even Lisa got me something, which surprised me. Jack and I left and went back to his house. I was surprised when I saw that it was only ten because we'd only been at their house for about two hours.

Jack went to the bathroom as soon as we got to his house. Feeling kind of thirsty I went to the fridge, aiming to get a bottle of water. But once I opened the door, a little black box sitting on the shelf in front of the bottles caught my eye, as well as a tiny piece of paper with my name on it in Jack's chicken scratch of handwriting attached to the box.

As I picked up the box, Jack's arms wrapped around my waist from behind. "So, it worked. You went to the fridge as soon as we got here," he said.

Closing the fridge door, I turned around in his arms, the box still in my hand. "What is this?" I asked, looking up at him.

"If you opened it, you'd know." He smirked down at me.

I took his advice and opened the box, revealing a silver ring with a diamond in the center. "It's a ring," I said, shocked.

"Mmhmm." He nodded, amusement in his eyes. "It's a promise ring." I looked up at him. "Sam, I love you and I don't wanna be with anyone else. Now, you don't have to, like, promise to marry me or anything because we've only been together for seven months and you're only nineteen and the thought of marriage kinda scares me-"

"You're rambling, Jack," I cut him off, slightly freaked out since he was talking about marriage, but I hid it well.

He chuckled then continued. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that the ring is a promise that we'll stay together? I'm not good at this." As he said this I had quickly set the box down on the counter behind him and slid the ring on the finger of my left hand.

"You don't have to be." I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him quickly, but it was filled with passion. "And I love you, too," I added once the kiss ended. He kept his forehead against mine.

Smiling, he kissed me again, longer and way more passionate. "Happy birthday, Sammy," he said quietly, pulling back from me.

I moved my arms to his waist and his tightened around me. My head laid on his shoulder as I mumbled, "Thanks."

That night, I laid in bed thinking about what Jack had said for a while. We had only been together for seven months, but I think if he would've given me this ring as a promise to marry him someday I would still be wearing it right now. I love him that much. I looked over at his sleeping self next to me. What if I did marry him one day? The thought of that kind of scared me since I was only eighte- sorry, nineteen. But it also made me think I would be okay with that, too.

Then this made me think about having kids with him. What the fuck is going through my head? Here I am, thinking about marriage. Hell, I wasn't even living with him. That being said, that thought never really crossed my mind either. Ugh! Why did he have to make me think about all of this?

I rolled over on my side, facing him. I love him more than he could ever know.

Sighing to myself, I scooted closer to him and eventually fell asleep.


	8. Chapter 8

**This chapter jumps around a lot, but I needed it that way.**

**Chapter 8: Probably The Most Terrifying Thing That Could Happen Right Now**

**Jack's POV**

I woke up the next morning to kisses being planted along my forehead and down my cheek. A peck on my lips made me open my eyes and look up at Sam, who was sitting on her knees next to me. "Well, that's a nice way to wake me up."

She giggled and ran her fingers through my hair for a second. "Good morning."

I began playing with her fingers that were resting in her lap. "Hey." I spun the ring around her finger, smiling to myself because she was actually wearing it.

"You know, I'm not usually a ring wearer," she ruffled my hair with her other hand since I had the left, "but this one's the only exception."

"'Cause it's from me, right?" I looked up at her and she smiled. "Oh, and that's a good song."

"Mmhmm." She nodded and was still playing with my hair, but stopped. "Are you gonna get up?"

"I guess." I sat up, keeping the covers over my lap. I looked at her, kind of sad. "You go home tomorrow."

She nodded, her face falling a little. "Yeah, I know."

I was still spinning the ring on her finger, but I stopped and took her in my arms. "I don't want you to go."

Her arms went around me as she kissed my cheek. "I have to.""I know," I said, my nose nuzzling in her neck. I laid back down and, since I was still holding her, I took her with me, making her lay down on top of me. "Do you really have to go?"

She nodded. "Yeah, unfortunately."

"I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you, too."

I kissed her softly. She rolled off of me, but snuggled into my side. I slid my arm around her, my hand resting on her hip, as her head hit my shoulder. Kissing her forehead, I whispered, "I love you."

"I love you, too," she whispered as well.

"We are so cheesy right now."

Sammy laughed. "We are, too." I nodded and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. She sat up and got off the bed, climbing over my legs. She grabbed my hand and pulled it a little. "Come on! Wake up!" she whined.

"Aww, but I so don't want to!" I whined back.

"Yes, you do."

"No, I don't."

"I think you might be lying."

I glanced at the clock. "It's ten o'clock in the morning. What the fuck, Sam?" I said, but was laughing.

"I have been up for an hour watching you sleep."

"That's sounds really creepy."

"I realize that, but wake up!" She whined and pulled on my hand again.

"Okay, okay." I swung my legs over the side of the bed then stood up. "I'm up. See?"

"Mmhmm." She nodded.

"Okay. Now I'm gonna go back to sleep." I laid down on my bed again.

"Jack," she laughed. I was on my stomach so my shoulders were shook. "I'll sit on you."

"Wouldn't be the first time."

"Touché." My shoulders were shook again. "Jack, you're harder to wake up than me."

"You are hard to wake up."

"Yeah. Get up!"

"Noooooo!" I hugged the pillow close to my head. "I'll love you forever and ever if you let me sleep."

"Fine. I was just gonna go take a shower," I heard her footsteps and I knew she was slowly walking out of my room, "and I was gonna ask if you wanted to take one with me, but since you wanna sleep..."

My eyes popped open and I got out of bed quickly to meet her in the hallway. I grabbed her hand and pulled her into the bathroom after me. She laughed as I shut the door.

_**The Next Day**_

**Sammy's POV**

All of these goodbyes are really starting to piss me off.

Once again, I was standing in the airport, saying goodbye to Jack, Alex, Rian, Zack, and Cassadee- even though I'd see her in a week. I hugged everyone else first, then turned around and looked at Jack.

"I feel like this one won't be as bad," he said, shrugging.

I shrugged as well. "Me, too."

He wrapped me in a tight hug. "You wanna just quit Hey Monday and tour with us all the time?"

I shook my head, laughing a little. "No."

"Kidding. I could never ask you to do that." I could tell he was smiling and he kissed my forehead.

I stood on my tip toes to kiss him, but pulled back first and buried my head in his chest. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

My flight was called, so I stepped back from Jack and looked at the other four people standing behind me. I smiled and waved a little before picking up my bag, kissing Jack's cheek, and walking through the gates.

Yeah. That was kind of easier this time. Why? Don't ask me because I have no idea.

_**At Home**_

I opened the front door to Kyle, Aiden, and Kaylee's house, stepping over the threshold. As soon as I did, my eyes widened at Aiden making out with Aria on the couch. "Shit! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" I looked down, but covered my eyes with my hands as the screen door slammed shut behind me.

Aria started laughing, really hard. I looked up and saw Aiden shaking his head, but he was smiling. I giggled, "I'm sorry."

"Hi, Sam," Aria said, waving at me and still giggling a little.

"Sorry, Aiden." I ruffled his hair, then high-fived Aria. "Nice." I looked back at Aiden, who stuck his tongue out at me. "Cindy home?"

He shook his head. "She went to Wal-Mart."

"What about Kyle?"

"Girlfriend's house."

"Kaylee?"

"Your room."

"Cool." I turned, walking to my room. "You can resume making out now."

"Oh, hey, Sam?" I looked back at Aria, my hand on the door knob. "Happy late birthday." She smiled.

"Thanks." I smiled back and opened the door to my room, shutting it once I walked in.

Kaylee looked up from a textbook from her spot on her bed and smiled. "Hi, Sammy."

"Hey." I waved a little, sat my bag down on my bed, then sat next to her with my legs crossed on her bed. "What'cha doin'?"

"Math homework."

"Fuuunnnn!"

"Shut up," she mumbled, but was smiling. She sighed and looked up from her book at me. "You're only gonna be home for a week. Then you have to go into the studio."

I nodded. "Yup. Then we go on tour."

She frowned. "I miss you so much when you tour."

"I miss you, too, Kaylee." I hugged her the best I could since we both had our legs crossed and she was facing the door instead of me. "So, what do you have to do for math?"

"Geometry."

"Psh. Easy."

"Very." We both chuckled together.

_**Three Weeks Later**_

It's late January and the third day of tour. We're currently switching cities and it's about four in the morning. I'm in the back lounge, drawing with Sharpies in a notebook. Cassadee walked into the back lounge, a quizzical look on her face.

"Um...Sammy? Do you have a tampon?" she asked, bluntly.

I nodded and pointed to the cabinet back here with my stuff in it. "Top shelf."

"Thanks." She got one out quickly and left the back lounge.

I got to thinking and realized something. I haven't had my period this month. I'm not usually one to skip at random times and it usually comes at the same time every month, too. _That's weird_, I thought. But then something crossed my mind that scared the crap out of me.

What if I'm pregnant?

Whoa. Calm down, Sammy. It was just one month, right? Maybe it just messed up because of the stress of the tour just starting.

Still, that's never happened before.

Shit.

"Cassadee?" Setting my notebook down and capping my Sharpie, I got up and walked over to Cassadee, who was now standing in front of her bunk.

"Yeah?" she asked, folding a t-shirt in her hands. I kept opening my mouth and closing it again, trying to figure out exactly how to tell her this. She looked at me after a second. "Sammy, you okay?"

_Fuck it. I'll just be blunt_, I thought. "I...haven't gotten my period this month," I finally whispered.

She gave me a confused look for a minute, but then her eyes widened. "Ohhh!" she whispered. "Are you- what? You sure?"

I nodded. "Cassadee, what if I'm-"

"Don't go there yet," Cassadee said, still whispering. "It might just be one of those freaky things that happens. You...uh, used something right?"

I nodded again. "Of course."

"Don't freak out about it yet," she reassured. "I mean, if you want we can get a test next time we stop and then you can take it and then we can go from there."

"Yes, please," I said.

"Hey," she hugged me, "you don't know anything yet. Calm down." I guess she could see the fear written all over my face.

"Cassadee?" I asked, hugging her back.

"Yes?"

"Can you not tell the guys?"

"Of course. They don't have to know unless something really did happen."

"Cassadee?"

She giggled. "Yes?"

"Should I tell Jack?"

That made her step back from me. She was clearly thinking about this and it took her a minute to say an answer. "If I was you," she started, "or in this situation, I wouldn't just yet. Hold off until you do know if you are or not. And if you're not, well...that's up to you. But if you are," she shrugged, "the kid's half his."

I put my face in my hands just to drag them down. "Oh, my gosh."

"Calm down," she said again. "You don't know anything yet.""I'm still terrified."

"I realize that. It'll be okay." She hugged me again.

"Thanks, Cassadee," I replied hugging her back.

"You're welcome."

Oh. My. Gosh.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: February Air**

**Sammy's POV**

I was the second one up the next day at around eleven, Cassadee being the first. We were still moving and she was in the back lounge. I went to the bathroom and almost screamed for joy at what I saw in the toilet when I was done. I washed my hands quickly then walked to the back lounge, staying in the doorway.

"That moment of extreme relief when you get your period," I said.

Cassadee's gaze snapped up at me and she smiled. Letting out a little squeal, she jumped up and grabbed my hands, jumping around in a circle with me. "Go, Sammy. You got your period. And you're not pregnant." she said in a sing-song tone.

I stopped jumping and hugged her. "I'm not pregnant. I feel so relieved. I never thought I'd be this happy to have a period."

She laughed. "You're sure, right?"

"Positive." I let out a breath I had been holding.

Cassadee giggled and stepped back from me. "I'm gonna go get something to eat."

"Okay." She walked out of the back lounge and I went to my bunk to get my cell phone. I did a quick debate in my head and decided to call Jack. I sat down on the couch with my legs crossed in the back lounge, shutting the door behind me. Taking one deep breath, I dialed his number and waited.

He answered on the third ring. "Hey."

"Hi." I smiled. "Are you alone?"

"I can be...why?"

"There's something I gotta tell you," I started playing with the strings on my pajama pants, "and you're gonna wanna be alone for this."

"Okay..." I waited and heard a door shut. "I'm alone in the back lounge. What's up?"

"I'm just gonna be blunt, alright?"

"That's fine."

"I may or may not have thought I was pregnant momentarily."

"What? Whoa, back up. You _thought_ you were pregnant?"

"Yeah..."

"Why? What happened?"

"Um..."

"Sammy," Jack started, more sincere, "I love you and I'm not mad, so you have nothing to worry about. Just tell me what happened."

"I didn't get my period this month until today." Which was the thirty-first.

"Well...way to sugar coat stuff."

I giggled. "I told you I was gonna be blunt."

"Do you know why it was...off?"

I could tell he was uncomfortable with this. "No idea."

"So...you're not pregnant?"

"No."

"You seem uneasy. Are you okay?"

"I just...I feel like I made you mad. After all, I might've fucked everything up."

"Whoa, you wouldn't have fucked everything up, it just would've been complicated for a while. Like I said, I'm not mad. And if you were pregnant, it's partly my fault, so you wouldn't have been in this alone." I sighed in relief and he added, "Alright, all seriousness here. Do you think you should..." he trailed off and I got confused for a second, but then he added, "Sorry, Alex walked back here, but he's gone now. Do you think you should take birth control pills?"

I was kind of taken aback by that. "I have no idea. I don't think I could remember to take them."

"It's just a pill, Sam."

"You have to take them the same exact time everyday, Jack."

"Oh..."

"Yeah. And I've heard horror stories about pap smears."

"The fuck's a pap smear?"

"You do not want to know, trust me."

"I'll probably end up Google-ing it later, just being honest. I guess it's just something to consider since you thought you were pregnant."

"Yup. I don't know. I'll think about it." I shrugged, even though he couldn't see it.

"You really thought I would be mad?" he asked after a minute of silence.

"Yeah..."

"Sam, I don't think I'd be mad. I'd be shocked, hands down. But not mad. If you were pregnant I'd probably marry you, honestly." He paused and then quickly added, "That's not saying we might not get married one day. I was just saying that'd we'd have to get married quicker than normal and-"

"You're rambling, Jack," I cut him off. "I get what you were trying to say. And I guess thank you. You wouldn't be an asshole and just break up with me."

"Nope," He popped his lips on the "p". "I couldn't do that to you." He paused. "But just to be sure, you're not pregnant?"

I giggled again. "There is no child growing inside of me."

"Okay," he chuckled.

We talked for a little while longer, but Mike woke up and asked if I wanted to watch a movie. I hung up with Jack and followed Mike into the front lounge, where Cassadee winked at me. I smiled at her, rolling my eyes, and collapsed on the couch up here.

_**Three More Weeks Later**_

"Damn ankle," I mumbled as I used the bunks to walk down the hallway. I was laughing at Mike's failed attempt to walk with my crutches. "Crutches, please!" I said, still giggling a little.

Mike walked back to me and handed me my crutches that I put under my arms. I frowned, then looked up at him. "My armpits hurt."

He chuckled and patted my shoulder. "Only two more weeks, kid," he said before turning and going back into the front lounge.

So, last night I was standing on an amplifier at the show and when I got down, I landed on my ankle wrong and may or may not have sprained it. Scratch that. I sprained it and it sucks. Now I have to be on stage on a stool, my armpits hurt all the time, and walking with crutches sucks. 'Nuff said.

I went into the front lounge carefully, placing my crutches on the floor in front of the couch as I sat down. "I never really realized how much I appreciated my right foot," I said, bringing my hands to my face and dragging them down.

Alex and Mike laughed. Aside from me, they were the only ones in the front lounge. "I'm sorry, Sammy," Alex said.

I smiled at him. "Thanks, but it's not your fault." My phone started ringing in the back lounge, making me groan and mumble, "Son of a bitch."

"I'll get it for you, Sammy!" I heard Cassadee call from the back lounge.

"Thank you!" I called back.

Cassadee walked into the front lounge- Patrick following her- laughing and saying, "Calm down, Jack. It's just sprained." Pause. "Ye-" Pause. "O-" Pause. "Jack, stop talking long enough and I'll give her her cell phone!" she yelled, but was laughing again.

She handed my phone to me, still smiling. I took it from her and placed it to my ear. "Hello?"

"Sammy! Are you okay? What happened?" Jack exclaimed really fast.

I giggled. "Calm down. I fell off an amp on stage and sprained my ankle."

"So, you're okay?" He calmed down a little, but still sounded worried.

"Yes. It just hurts and it's hard to walk around, but other than that I'm okay."

"Okay." I heard him sigh.

"Now the rest of the band is gonna make fun of me for this, but you being worried is cute."

Sure enough Cassadee, Mike, Patrick, and Alex all went, "Awwwww!" I rolled my eyes and ended up blushing a little, but waving them off.

"Shut up," Jack mumbled.

I heard another sigh and a rustling sound then Alex G saying, "What'd you say to Jack? He's blushing a bright fucking red."

"Shut up, Alex," I heard Jack say.

"No. I wanna talk to Sammy."

"Well, then call her on your phone later."

"Guys..."

"No," Alex said.

"She's my girlfriend."

"Guys!"

"Ow, Sam, that's my ear," Alex said.

"Alex, can I please talk to Jack? I will call you when I'm done."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

"I'll hold you to it. Here's Jack."

More rustling and then a, "Hi. Alex is a douche bag," from Jack.

"Love ya, too, sweetie!" Alex yelled in the background.

I laughed. "Yes, Alex is. I have to call him, though. So, can I call you later?"

"Mmhmm. I'll text you. Love you."

"Love you, too." I hung up and sighed, quickly dialing Alex's number as the guys started playing Call Of Duty and Cassadee sat next to me, listening to the conversation.

"Hi, Sammy," Alex answered.

"Hey. How's it going?"

"Pretty good. I'm hungry, though."

"So, you should eat something and Cassadee's listening."

"Hi, Cassadee!"

She giggled and I turned the phone so we could both talk into it and hear at the same time. "Hey, Alex." The guys were too engrossed in the video game to pay attention to this conversation.

"What are you ladies doing?"

"Isn't it clear? Talking to you, silly!" I said.

"'Ladies,' Alex? Really?" Cassadee asked.

"It's what you are, is it not?"

"Well, if not I've been buying the wrong underwear all my life."

"Are you trying to make me picture you naked?"

"Alex!" Cassadee and I said together.

"I put one hundred percent of the blame on you. Jack's glaring at me and I'm a little scared."

"Probably because he doesn't know you weren't talking about, Sam," Cassadee pointed out then added, "That's cute, too."

"Would you stop that?" I asked, but was blushing.

She giggled, shaking her head. "Never."

"Jack's still glaring at me," Alex threw in.

"Give the phone to Jack. I'll fix it," I said.

More rustling and then I heard Jack. "Hey."

"No more glaring at Alex. He was talking about Cassadee," I said.

He sighed. "Okay. Here he is."

"I love how he doesn't even worry about me," Cassadee whispered and I giggled.

More rustling again and I heard Alex. "Thank you."

"Yeah, no problem," I said.

"Damn skinny jeans."

"Are you getting dressed?" Cass asked, laughing.

He hesitated. "Maybe."

"Are you trying to make _us_ picture _you_ naked?" I asked.

He chuckled, "Alright, I deserved that." He paused, then added, "Are you?"

"Well, we weren't!" Cassadee said.

"Hahaha! See? I'm not the weird one."

"Yes, you are."

"Do I look attractive in your imagination?"

Cassadee and I were laughing, but I said, "No. You're hideous."

"Jack, Rian! You're girlfriends aren't nice!"

"They aren't nice to you," I heard Rian say.

"Hi, Rian!" Cassadee and I said together.

"Hello!" he said.

"You know what, guys?" Alex asked.

"What?" Cass asked.

"I could be naked right now, and you wouldn't even know." Cassadee and I shared a look and Alex said quickly, "I'm not, though. I was just pointing it out."

"You should tweet that," I said.

"Huh. So I should. Hey, how's your ankle?"

"It hurts."

"Well, yeah," he chuckled. "What? Oh, okay. Sorry, talking to Matt. So, we have a sound check. Talk to you later?"

"Of course," Cassadee and I said together again.

"You guys do that a lot. Bye!"

"Bye, Alex!" we replied together again.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: I Miss You More Than Anything**

_**Early March**_

**Jack's POV**

Lately I haven't been able to keep my mind off of Sammy and I've been missing her like crazy. The guys have noticed, so they took me out tonight. We're in New York City and currently at some club. I'm sitting at the bar twirling a straw in my drink.

"Hey, hot stuff. What'chu doin' sitting here alone?"

I looked up slowly to see a girl with black hair and a silver dress standing in front of me. "Um...not a lot," I replied, but it came out more as a question. I felt a little uncomfortable.

She sat on the bar stool next to me. "You okay?" she asked.

I shrugged. "I guess so."

She eyed me a second. "I don't believe you, but okay."

"I'm just gonna be straight up. Are you trying to hit on me?" I asked.

She laughed. "Honestly, I'd rather be hitting on her."

"Oh." Wait, _her? _I looked over to where she was pointing to see a girl in a yellow shirt and a black mini skirt. Furrowing my eyebrows, I looked back at her.

She chuckled at my confused look, then shrugged. "I'm a lesbian."

"Ohhh!" I said. Now I understood.

She smiled. "So, why do you look so sad?"

I shrugged. "I'm just...out of town, I guess you could say. And I miss my girlfriend a lot."

"I know the feeling." She nodded. "My girlfriend's in France for school until May."

"That sucks," I said.

"Yeah." She half smiled. "But I'm not gonna stop her from doing what she wants, you know?"

"Yeah."

We didn't talk for a few minutes, but eventually she said, "So, what's your name?"

_Hey, she doesn't recognize me_, I thought. "Jack. Your's?"

"Megan." She held out her hand, which I shook. "Nice to meet you."

"You, too."

As "You Make Me Feel" by Cobra Starship played throughout the club, Megan got off the bar stool and held her hand out to me. "Wanna dance?" I eyed her hand a second. "I'm not asking you to marry me, Jack. It's just dancing," she laughed. I smiled a little and followed her over to the dance floor.

When the song was over, I followed her back to the bar where she ordered a Sprite. "Gosh, you remind me so much of my girlfriend," I said, thinking out loud.

Megan looked up at me. "How so?"

"She has black hair, -well, it's dyed blonde right now- she doesn't drink that much, her favorite soda is Sprite," I gestured to the glass in her hand, "she loves Cobra Starship, and the only time I've seen her in a dress it was silver."

She looked down when I said the last part. "Wow." She looked up at me with a smirk. "I'd like to say you remind me of my girlfriend, but I think you'd take that as an insult."

I chuckled and shook my head. "Nah, but it would be kinda weird."

She nodded. Taking a sip of her drink, she asked, "So, what brings you to New York?"

"Honestly?"

"I would prefer that, yeah," she chuckled.

"I'm in a band and on tour right now." I shrugged.

"Really?" Megan raised her eyebrows. "What's your band's name?"

I took a drink of my beer. "All Time Low."

"I've heard of you," she smiled. "My girlfriend really likes your band."

"Nice." I grinned.

"Hey, Jack?"

I looked to my left to see Zack walking up. "We gotta go." He shrugged and smiled nicely at Megan.

"Okay, I'll be out in a minute." He looked from me to Megan, but shrugged and walked away. I pointed my thumb in the direction Zack walked off in and looked at her. "Bassist in the band."

"Cool, so, what do you do in the band?" she asked.

"Lead guitar."

"Sweet." She grinned and looked in the direction Zack walked off in. "You should probably go. Don't wanna be late to your next city."

I nodded and smiled. "Thanks for making my night not so boring."

"Yeah, you, too." She waved slightly.

I turned and walked off a little, but thought of something and jogged back to her. "Add me on Facebook later. You seem like a cool person."

Megan nodded. "Yeah, definitely. You do, too."

"Okay. Now I really have to go. Bye." I waved.

"Bye, Jack." She waved after me and I jogged out of the club.

_**The Next Day**_

We were in between cities when I got a phone call. Sitting in my bunk, I picked up my iPhone and answered it, not even bothering to look at the caller ID. "Hello?"

"Hi, Jack," Sam's voice rang in my ears.

"Hey, how's your ankle?" I asked.

"Eh, it only hurts when I put weight on it now, and my armpits hurt, but other than that it's pretty good." She said. "Let me tell you, if you can put skinny jeans on with a sprained ankle, you can do anything."

I chuckled. "I bet. So, what'cha been up to?"

"Not a lot. Playing video games and that's about it. I can't really do a whole lot because of my ankle."

"That sucks." I held my phone between my cheek and my shoulder since I was on Facebook on my laptop.

"It's not so bad. What about you?"

"Same, kinda. We went out to a club last night and I met this chick. She was cool."

"Ooo, sounds like things are going places between you two."

I chuckled again. "She's a lesbian, Sam. She did add me on Facebook, though, and I am currently messaging her."

"Yup. Things are definitely going places."

"Sammy," I laughed, "you know I wouldn't do that to you."

"Chill out. I know this," she laughed.

"You know what I want to do right now because I miss you so much?"

"What?"

"See you mainly, but hug you. And God damn it, I wanna kiss you, too."

Sammy laughed. "I miss you, too, and you have no idea what I just thought of."

"Probably not the same thing I'm thinking of. What is it?"

"I want to love you, feel you, wrap myself around you. I want to squeeze you, please you, I just can't get enough. And if you move real slow I'll let it go," she sang softly.

"You're dancing, aren't you?"

"A little, yeah. I would more, but, you know, sprained ankle."

I laughed then sang, "I'm so excited and I just can't hide it."

"Now you're dancing, huh?"

"Just a little."

We both laughed together. "Mike says hi," she said.

"I say hi."

"Dude, he said hi!" she called then started talking to me again. "I have to go to sound check. Text you later?"

"Sure."

"Okay. I love you, bye."

"Love you, too." We both hung up and I put my face in my hands. "I miss her too much," I whispered to myself.

**Sammy's POV**

I laid down on the couch, my hands over my face. _Touring is getting hard because I miss him so fucking much,_ I thought. And I don't get to see him again until June.

I sat up, grabbed my crutches, and carefully stood up. I went into the front lounge, where Patrick half smiled at me. "I feel so bad for you."

"Only one more week," I said, smiling at him. "I think my armpits are going to hurt forever and my biceps are aching so much."

He laughed and Alex came up next to me and put an arm around my shoulders. "Want me to carry you?"

"Yeah." I nodded. "I do, actually."

He laughed. "Can you balance on one foot for a few seconds?" I nodded and he took away my crutches, handing them to Patrick. "Can you get on my back?"

I shrugged. "I might be able to. I'm not sure."

Alex shrugged and leaned down. I wrapped my arms around his neck and jumped with my good foot. He caught my legs and hoisted me up so I wouldn't fall. "You okay?" He looked at me.

I nodded and smiled. "Yeah, thank you."

Cassadee and Mike walked into the back lounge. They chuckled at me and we all walked off of the bus.

I was carried into the venue, where Alex sat me down backstage in our dressing room. "Thank you," I said, hugging him.

He laughed and hugged me back before stepping back from me. "No problem. You're light."

"Thank you," I said again, giggling a little. Patrick handed me my crutches. I hugged him from the side, balancing carefully, and said, "Thank you," to him as well. He smiled and went to go get ready.

Just one more week of crutches.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11: The Fight**

**Sammy's POV**

Mike, Patrick, and Alex were all taking turns walking with my crutches. Patrick had them right now and he came in the front lounge after going to the back lounge for the fifth time. "Is this what it feels like to be you?"

Cassadee, who was sitting next to me, and I giggled as Patrick handed my crutches to Mike. He put my crutches under his arms and put on a fake girl voice. "Oh, I'm Sammy." He flipped imaginary hair over his shoulder. "I'm dating Jack, my ankle's sprained, and I play bass."

Everyone else laughed and I crossed my arms over my chest. "Do I really sound that preppy? Because if I do, I'm so sorry."

"That's his female voice," Alex said, sitting across from me.

"I don't even think I can make my voice sound that preppy."

"Yes, you can, Sammy! Embrace your inner girly girl!" Cassadee said.

"Embrace your inner tomboy!" I retorted.

"Wehehell." Alex held his hands up in defense as Patrick sat next to him.

Mike came back from the back lounge with my crutches. "These are fun."

"They make your armpits hurt," I said, bluntly. "And my biceps are getting a serious work out. Check it!" I flexed my arm.

"Nice," Patrick said.

"You already had good upper body strength, though. Being a cheerleader and all," Cassadee said.

"True, but I haven't really had to lift weights for it in a while. My arms aren't used to this!" Cass giggled. "And that's another thing. Right now, I would be doing flips again already instead of staying off my ankle."

"Strict coach?" she asked.

"Very strict coach," I nodded, "but it helped. We were good."

"We saw," she chuckled.

"Am I a creeper for thinking some of those cheerleaders were hot?" Patrick asked, moving so he was laying down with his feet hanging over the arm rest.

I shrugged. "More of a pedophile."

He shrugged. "Jack was one to," he pointed out.

"He waited until she was eighteen, though," Mike said, coming back from the back lounge. He sat my crutches down on the floor in front of me before sitting next to Cassadee.

I sighed and looked down at my crutches. "I want to stop using you already."

"Are you talking to your crutches?" Alex asked.

"I am talking to my crutches," I confirmed.

He raised his eyebrows before holding his hand up for a high-five. "Nice." I scoffed, but slapped his hand.

I looked down at my clothes, deciding I wasn't going to sleep in jeans. I looked at the four other people in the front lounge. "If you were me and wanted to go into the back lounge to change clothes, would you use crutches or crawl?"

Mike and Patrick said, "Crawl."

Cassadee said, "I'd use crutches," and Alex nodded in agreement.

I considered this is my head, but picked up my crutches and walked into the back lounge. Then I changed into sweat pants and a tank top, carefully, before walking (crutching?) back into the front lounge. Sitting next to Cassadee, I put my crutches on the floor again.

"You're getting faster at that," Alex pointed out.

"Walking with crutches or changing clothes with a sprained ankle?" I asked, an eyebrow raised.

He thought a moment then shrugged. "Both."

"Oh." I shrugged. "Alright then."

_**The End Of Tour**_

"Sammy!" I was hugged by Aiden and Kaylee at the same time.

I chuckled, hugging them back. "Hey, guys!"

"Hey, Sam!" As Kaylee and Aiden released me, Kyle wrapped me in another hug. "We missed you!" he said.

"I missed you, too!" I replied, stepping back from him. "Where's Cindy?"

"Right here." She came around the corner from the kitchen. I skipped over to her and hugged her tightly, making her stumble a little and hug me back. "Hi," she said.

"Hello," I replied and stepped back from her. I grabbed my bag from tour and dropped it in my room on my bed before going back into the living room.

That night, I was folding my now clean laundry from tour and putting some of it back in my bag for going to Baltimore that day. The bedroom door opened and Aiden said, "Hey," from behind me. I turned around to face him. "Going to Baltimore again?"

I nodded. "Mmhmm." He sighed and shook his head before walking out of mine and Kaylee's room. I followed after him to see him now sitting on the couch in the living room. Kaylee and Kyle were at the table to the left of the living room. "Aiden," I sat next to him, "what's wrong?"

He shook his head again and stood up, walking over to Kaylee and Kyle. I was about to ask what was wrong again when he turned around and said, "Hey. I'm Aiden, that's Kaylee, and he's Kyle," Aiden said, pointing to who he was talking about each time. "Remember us? We're kinda you're best friends. At least we were before you started dating Jack."

I knitted my eyebrows. "You guys still are. Nothing changed."

"We never get to see you!" Aiden yelled. Kaylee and Kyle fell silent, just looking at the table. "You're either on tour, or at Jack's. It's like we don't exist!"

"Aiden-"

"You know it's true."

I let my gaze fall to the couch cushion. "I'm sorry," I said, my voice small. He was right.

"Why doesn't he just come out here?" Kyle asked, making me look up.

"Because they can't have sex here," Aiden said bluntly, giving me a cold look. "Nice to know that comes before us."

"Aiden, you know that's a lie," I said, standing up.

"But it's not." He narrowed his eyes. "Be honest, how many times do you fuck him when you're there?"

"Why does that matter?"

"So, a lot." He crossed his arms.

Tears filled my eyes and my voice cracked as I said, just above a whisper, "That's not true."

"Yes, it is," Aiden laughed, and it's a bitter laugh. "If it wasn't he would come down here."

I didn't know what to say. I just stood there with my eyes threatening to pour down tears, staring at all of them. Aiden had a knowing look on his face, Kaylee wouldn't look up from the table, and Kyle was staring at the floor.

"You better go," Aiden said. "You won't wanna miss you're flight." With that, he walked back to his room. Kaylee got up and walked to our room, never looking up from the floor, and Kyle eventually followed after Aiden.

I fell onto the couch, crying into my hands. They were right. It was like Jack mattered more than them, but they all mean the same to me.

Around two in the morning, I was still awake. I cancelled my flight and now I was crying in Cindy's arms on her bed. She was holding me tightly, stroking my hair and telling me, "It'll all be okay."

This wasn't the first time this has happened. I remember when my first boyfriend broke up with me, this is what I was doing the same night. She was closest thing to a mother I had. Hell, she basically was my mom.

My phone started ringing, so I pulled it out of my pocket. I sniffed, wiping my eyes. Jack was calling me. I threw my phone on the floor, it landed and bounced multiple times with a thud, and yelled, "My relationship with him is fucking everything up!"

"Shhh..." Cindy stroked my hair again and held me tighter. "It's okay. Calm down."

I sniffed again. "I love him so much, Cindy."

"I know you do," she said.

"But Aiden, Kyle, and Kaylee mean everything to me, too."

"I know they do."

I wiped my eyes again, even though I was gonna keep crying. "What am I supposed to do?" My head laid on her shoulder.

"You cry until you can't cry anymore. Don't hold these emotions in."

I took a deep, shaky breath. "They hate me."

"No, they don't. They're just mad because you're gone all the time." She paused, then added. "I know my kids, they'll get over this in a day or two...maybe even by morning. In the mean time, why don't you have Jack come out here?"

I sighed. "I, honestly, didn't think about that."

"So, call him. Tell him to come here."

I looked up at her. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"Being the closest thing I've ever had to a mom."

Cindy looked shocked, but she smiled and kissed the top of my head. "You're welcome."


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12: And Everything Turns Out A-Okay...For Now**

**Sammy's POV**

_**The Next Day**_

"Guys, I'm really worried. She won't answer my texts or calls and she didn't show up yesterday," I heard Jack say, but it was muffled.

Furrowing my eyebrows, I took my phone off of speaker and placed it to my ear as Alex said something. "Well, I checked the news. There's no plane crashes or anything. Have you tried calling Aiden? Or Kyle? Or even Kaylee?"

"None of them are answering me," Jack said.

Oh, he pocket answered my call, I thought.

"Try calling her again," I heard Rian say.

"Okay." There was rustling and then a, "Shit. My ass answered her." He was talking to me when he said, "Hello?"

"Your pocket answered me," I said.

He chuckled. "Yeah, sorry. Why aren't you here? Are you okay?"

I sighed. "Can you- can you come out here instead?" I asked hesitantly. "Something happened."

"Um, yeah, sure. Is everything okay?"

"I...hope it will be. It's kind of a long story."

"Oh. Okay. I can look at flights, I guess, and let you know?"

"Okay."

"You sure you're okay?"

"Sort of..."

"Okay. I'll be there. Love you."

"Love you, too." I hung up, shoved my phone in my pocket and walked over to Aiden's room. Taking a deep breath and hoping he'd forgive me, I knocked on the door frame of his room. He looked up from his cell phone at me, his face falling. I swallowed hard before saying, "I'm sorry."

He held my gaze for a minute before getting up and walking over to me very quickly. He threw his arms around me, hugging me tight, and my arms immediately went around his neck. I buried my head in his shoulder as I felt tears form in my eyes. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't be. I was an asshole," he mumbled.

"But you had a point."

Aiden shook his head a little. "Not a good enough one. I just miss you, that's all."

"I miss you, too. That's why Jack's coming out here." I stepped back from him and he frowned at me.

"No crying," he said sternly.

I giggled. "I thought you hated me."

"I don't. I never could." He paused, but added quickly, "By the way, he's been calling me about every hour since last night."

"That's because I was supposed to be there by now and I never showed up. I called him back, though." I shrugged. "Where's Kyle and Kaylee?"

"Kyle's in his room, Kaylee's in the kitchen." I turned and walked across the hall to Kyle's room. I sat next to him on his bed, making him look up at me. He stared at me blankly and I said, "Kyle, I'm sorry."

He half smiled and put an arm around my shoulders, hugging me sideways. "I'm sorry, too."

I heard an, "Aiden, put me down!" As I looked up at the door, I saw Kaylee being set down in the doorway. She looked pissed, but her glare quickly faded once she saw me. She opened her mouth to say something, then closed it, but opened it again and said, "Sam, I'm sorry."

I shook my head, walking over to her and wrapping her in a hug. "It was my fault. I'm sorry. I should've spent more time with you guys."

"We just miss you," Kyle said from behind me before wrapping his arms around my waist.

Aiden shrugged and found a way to hug me as well. "We love you," he said and kissed the side of my head. They all pulled back and he asked, "Now can we have some serious bonding time?"

We all laughed and I said, "Please."

**XXXX**

Two days later, I woke up in the morning. I grabbed my phone under a pillow and saw that it was only eight-thirty. Placing my phone back under my pillow, I noticed I wasn't alone in my bed and there were arms around me. Rolling my eyes and hugging the pillow close to my head, I mumbled, "Aiden or Kyle leave me alone. I'm trying to sleep."

The person chuckled. "Try again."

My eyes popped open and I looked over my shoulder. Jack was grinning at me. I rolled over in his arms took his face in my hands and kissed him hard. "You're here," I said.

"I am." He kissed me again and I wrapped my arms around him when I parted from him, nestling my head in his chest. He kissed the top of my head, then glanced behind him, only for a moment. "Kaylee's still asleep," he said quietly and kissing my forehead.

I propped myself up on my elbow before kissing him. After a second he pushed me down a little and was propped up on his elbow. We broke apart when he said, "Ow!" then looked over at a now awake Kaylee. "Why'd you throw a pillow at me?"

"Because I'm a light sleeper and the sound of you guys sucking face woke me up," she mumbled, laying back down on her bed. "Make out later."

I giggled and pecked Jack's lips when he frowned. He picked up the pillow off of the floor and threw it back at Kaylee, who mumbled, "Thanks," as I rolled over on my other side, not facing Jack.

He put his arms around me again and said, "We haven't seen each other since January and you're sleeping?"

I giggled and replied, "Sleep with me?"

"In more ways than one, but we can't do that right now."

"Ew! Fuck this. I'm sleeping on the couch." Kaylee got up, grabbed her pillow and blanket, then walked out of our room, shutting the door behind her.

Jack and I laughed a little and I curled back into the blankets. "You going to sleep?" he asked.

"Mmhmm," I mumbled, already half out of it. Jack chuckled again and that was the last thing I remember before falling asleep.

_**Four Hours Later**_

"Sam." My shoulder was shook. "Sammy." Jack sighed and shook my shoulder again. "Sammmmyyyyy!" he whined.

"What do you want?" I mumbled, slightly whining.

"It's almost one. Wake up. Cindy left with Kaylee to go buy her a dress for some end of the school year dance. Aiden went to Aria's house and Kyle went to Katie's house." Katie was Kyle's girlfriend.

I rubbed my eyes and looked up at him, sitting up, but keeping the covers over my lap. "So, we're alone?"

He nodded. "They left about thirty minutes ago."

I rubbed my eyes again and sniffed. Then a thought crossed my mind that made me look back up at him as he was setting his phone down on the desk by my bed. I sat up on my knees, wrapped my arms around his neck, and kissed him fiercely before pulling him down on my bed with me.

He pulled back from my lips and raised an eyebrow down at me. "Sam?"

I gave him a look. "You're really gonna complain about this?"

"What? No! Never mind." He attached his lips to mine again.

Afterwards, I was being held against Jack with him behind me. He buried his nose in my hair and I shivered at his breath on my neck, making him chuckle. "I missed you," he said.

I scoffed, "Clearly."

He laughed then said, "Because you still live at home, I feel like I'm in high school again."

I put my face in my hands and started laughing. "I really have no idea how to respond to that." He laughed again and then I heard what sounded like a bang and my name being called by Kyle. My eyes widened and I glanced at Jack. "Shit! They're back."

"Damn. Okay." Jack sat up as I stood up and we both started pulling on our clothes. "I am having major flashbacks right now," he said as he pulled on his jeans and I pulled on my sweats.

We both put our shirts on and I said, "Watch it, Jack," but smiled at him.

He smirked. "You need to brush your hair."

"You need to brush your's, too," I retorted, picking up my brush and throwing him a comb.

Once my hair was brushed, I walked into the living room. "Someone call for me?" I asked, noticing Kaylee was the only one in here now.

"Kyle did, but he's in the bathroom now." She eyed me a second then Jack walked out.

"Hey, Kaylee," he said, waving a little at her.

"Hey." She smiled at him, but grabbed my hand and dragged me into our room. She shut the door then stood in front of me. "You smell like sex." I gave her a shocked look, but blushed and hid my face in my hands quickly to hide it. "Sammy!" She slapped my shoulder.

I peeked through my fingers to see her smirking at me, her arms crossed. "Now every time I go in here I'm gonna be thinking about you and Jack having sex. Do you know what that does to a sixteen year old's head!"

I giggled. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," she sighed. "It was in your bed, right?"

I smacked her shoulder, scowling at her. "Of course it was!" I relaxed and asked, "You won't tell Cindy, will you?"

"No," she shook her head, "but if I can tell it happened then Aiden and Kyle will find out and you'll have to deal with that. Not me." She held her hands up in defense.

"Deal." With that, I walked out of our room.

"Sammy!" I raised an eyebrow at Aiden, who had his arms in the air.

"Yes?" I asked.

He shrugged as I sat next to Jack. "I don't know."

Jack wrapped his arms around me, pulling me to him. "So, where's your girlfriend, Aiden?"

He grinned, but blushed a little. "She's coming here later."

I pulled my legs to my chest and put my own arms around Jack. "That's cool."

Aiden was eyeing me and Jack when Kyle walked down the hallway and sat on Aiden's lap. "That's...alright? I guess," Aiden said.

"Yup." Kyle curled up against Aiden then eyed me and Jack.

"Why do they keep staring at us?" Jack whispered in my ear.

I looked up at him and whispered, "You'll find out in 3...2...-"

"You guys smell like sex," Kyle said, bluntly. Jack looked shocked, but I hid my face in my hands again because I was blushing.

"Oh, my gosh!" Aiden and Kyle said together.

"You dirty bastards," Aiden added.

I hid my face in Jack's neck and said, "I'm sorry," but it came out muffled.

"Don't be sorry," he chuckled. I looked up.

"How was it?" Kyle said.

"What?" Jack and I said together.

"He's just like Alex," Jack said.

"You know, what?" I moved myself away from Jack and stood up. Before going into the kitchen I smirked and said, "It was very nice. Thank you for asking."

"What! Ew! No!" Kyle said.

"You're not supposed to answer it, Sam!" Aiden said.

"Sammy, what happened to that being personal!" I heard Jack yell.

I poked my head around the corner. "Like you care anyways."

"Good point. I don't." He shrugged.

**XXXX**

"So, are you gonna tell me what happened now?"

I cocked my head to the left a little and sat next to Jack on my bed. "What do you mean?"

"You told me that something happened and that's why you asked me to come out here instead."

I sighed and pulled my legs to my chest before telling the story, but dumbing it down. "I was packing when Aiden got mad at me because I was leaving again. We were arguing, he was mad at me for about a day, I cried...a lot, and when you called I was still upset. I didn't want to answer my phone or talk to anyone, so I didn't tell you I wasn't coming." I looked up at him. "I'm sorry you were worried."

He shook his head and wrapped his arms around me. I leaned into his chest with my head on his shoulder when he said, "Don't be. I understand." He laid his head on my own and added, "What'd he say to you? And was Kaylee and Kyle mad, too?"

I nodded. "They were mad, too. And Aiden said that you couldn't come out here because we couldn't have sex here. Then he said that I care about sex more than them."

"What the fuck."

"Jack, don't be mad."

"Well, that's just stupid, Sam."

"They just miss me. And I miss them, too."

"Dating you is getting hard," Jack said quietly. He moved his head quickly then looked down at me. "I wasn't supposed to say that out loud."

I shook my head. "It's always been a weird relationship because we both tour." I moved my arms from my legs to his waist. He placed his lips against my forehead. "You wanna do something time consuming?" I asked.

"Like what?"

I shrugged a little. "I don't know. Watch a movie?" His eyes lit up. "Not Home Alone."

"Damn it," he mumbled.

I giggled and stood up, grabbing his hand. "Come on."

"Where are we going?" He stood up and started following me out of my room.

"Living room, silly! We're watching a movie, remember?" I said, laughing a little.

"Oh, yeah!"


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13: We're Looking For Something Dumb To Do**

**Sammy's POV**

A door opened next to me and feet appeared in front of my face. I looked up and saw Jack, who was chuckling at me. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"I think it's pretty clear that I'm doing a hand stand," I said. I was up against the wall, my hands on the floor and doing just that, by my bedroom door. I put my feet on the floor, flipping over so I was standing on my feet again and in front of Jack. I shrugged. "I just wanted to do one."

"I wish I could do that," he mumbled then looked up at me. "Anyways, do you know what today is?"

I thought a few seconds and my eyes widened. "Shit. We've been dating for a year."

"I know, right!" Jack exclaimed, but grinned. "That's awesome." He held his hand up for a high-five, to which I scoffed at and slapped his hand. But then he kissed me and yelled, "We've been dating for a year!"

I laughed then took his face in my hands and kissed him. I heard Kyle yell, "Eeewww, guys! Not cool!" I giggled against Jack's lips and he smiled against mine as he put his hands on my hips, telling me to not stop yet. "No!" Kyle said, picking me up by my waist from behind me to pull me back from Jack.

I giggled again as he sat me down, but said, "That was mean," then stuck my tongue out at Kyle.

"That was just in Jack's mouth." He pointed to my mouth, talking about my tongue.

"No, it wasn't," Jack and I said.

He looked at me. "That was cool."

"Mmhmm." I nodded. I turned back to Kyle and kissed his cheek. "Happier?"

He shrugged. "I guess. Hey, have you met my girlfriend?"

I shook my head. "Nope."

"Okay, so I have another question."

"Ask away."

"If it's your one year anniversary-"

Jack cut him off and raised an eyebrow. "You were listening?"

Kyle shrugged. "I came around the corner and heard you talking. Anyways," he sat down on the couch, "what are you gonna do to celebrate?" His eyes widened. "On second thought, don't answer that." He shook his head.

Jack and I chuckled together and I sat next to him. "I don't know. Jack?" I looked at him.

He shrugged. "Whatever you wanna do."

"Which is probably you," Kyle mumbled. I smacked his shoulder. "Hey!"

"You are such a pervert," I said.

"Seriously, Sammy? Did you just now realize this?" Aiden asked as he walked over to the fridge.

I rolled my eyes and Jack plopped down next to me with an arm over my shoulders. "Wanna go out to dinner, or something?"

"Or get a room," Kyle murmured.

"We could do that, too." Jack grinned at me.

"I swear to God that is all you guys think about," I said.

Jack said, "Yup," Kyle said, "Pretty much," and Aiden said from behind the fridge door, "True that!" all at the same time.

Kaylee walked out of our room then and went into the kitchen as well saying, "They say guys think about sex every seven seconds."

"That's a lot," I said.

"How many times a day do girls think about that?" Jack asked, looking at me.

"I don't know." I shrugged.

"You should."

"Jack, I don't keep a log of how many times sex crosses my mind in a day."

They laughed. "Okay, but enough about that," Jack said, waving his hands as if to say 'never mind'. "What do you want to do?"

"I'm gonna go all cliché here and say I don't care as long as I'm with you." I smiled at him.

"Awww!" Kyle, Aiden, and Kaylee all said.

Kaylee grinned at Jack as she sat down across from us on the other couch. "You're blushing."

"Shut up," Jack mumbled.

She shrugged and looked at me. "Sam, will you help me do a hand stand?"

"Come on," I got up, gestured for her to follow me, and walked over to the wall I was at moments ago.

**XXXX**

After going out to dinner, Jack and I were in Cindy's car in the driveway of her house. To put it bluntly, we were making out with each other pretty heavily.

I climbed over the console and straddled his lap, never breaking contact with his lips. Our lips kept moving together and he was starting to take off my shirt, but I stopped him. "Jack, we can't."

He sighed then smirked. "I forgot, sorry."

I shifted and now I was sitting on his lap, my arms around him and my head on his shoulder. "I'm sorry."

He shook his head then laid it on my own. "It's okay."

"You don't sound like it's okay."

"Because I had this night all planned out, but then I came out here and it just didn't happen the way it was supposed to." He frowned.

"Well, now I feel bad." I frowned myself.

"No! Don't. It was still a good night because I was with you and didn't have to spend it alone." He put his arms around me.

"I still feel bad."

"Sam," he looked me directly in the eyes. "Don't. It's okay. I'd rather be here with you since you were sad about the fight with Aiden."

I smirked, but said. "Okay, I believe you."

He kissed my forehead. "Wanna go in?"

I shrugged. "Whatever. If you want to." Jack opened the door and I climbed out. He grabbed my hand and followed me inside.

"They're back!" Kyle yelled as Jack shut the door.

"Hey," I said and waved a little. Jack and I both kicked off our shoes by the door before we sat down next to Kyle on the couch. "Where's Aiden and Kaylee?"

"Kaylee's asleep, Aiden's spending the night at Aria's house."

I nodded. "That's cool." Then a thought crossed my mind. Aiden wouldn't spend the night at another girl's house.

Unless...

I gasped and looked at Kyle. "Aiden's spending the night at Aria's house?" I exclaimed.

Jack raised an eyebrow at me and looked at Kyle. "Why is that shocking?"

Kyle ignored him and nodded at me. "Yup," he started popping his knuckles, "the kid's growing up."

Jack looked at me, blankly. "I don't get it."

"Aiden and Aria are..." Kyle trailed off and tossed his head from side to side. He made air quotes as he said, "Taking the next step."

Jack looked confused, but then said, "Ohhh!" as his eyes widened. He looked at me. "Aiden's a virgin?"

"Probably not anymore," Kyle scoffed.

I snorted, but said, "You don't know that, Kyle."

"Well, I guess we'll find out tomorrow." He shrugged.

_**The Next Day**_

"Aiden!" I jumped on him, my hands on his shoulders and a knee on either side on his stomach.

He mumbled, "What do you want, Sammy? I'm sleeping."

"I have a question."

"Well, ask me when I wake up." He pushed me off of him and rolled over on his side, not facing me.

I sat next to him and whispered, "I know your secret."

He rolled back over on his back and looked at me, eyes wide. "You do?"

I nodded. "Mmhmm. You're not a virgin anymore."

Aiden started to deny it, but blushed and rolled back over, facing away from me again. "I am, too."

"You're blushing! No, you're not!" I yelled. When he didn't say anything, I jumped over him so I was sitting on the other side of his bed, facing him. He looked up at me. "Best friends don't keep secrets from each other."

"But you already know my secret," he said quietly."Oh, my gosh!"

"Shhhh!" he covered my mouth with his hand.

"Aiden, you had sex for the first time. This is a big deal!" I whispered loudly.

"No, it's not! I was nervous, and scared, and I didn't know what I was doing, but she's not a virgin so she knew what to expect and I wasn't-"

I covered his mouth with my hand. "So, what happened?"

"She..." he sighed, "said it was okay because I was scared, but she also said I had nothing to be scared of and that she trusted me." He paused, then added, "She's gorgeous, Sam."

"See?" I pushed his shoulder. "That's good! And, that's cute."

"I'm still scared, though."

"Don't be. You love her, right?"

"Of course."

"Then don't be. Now I'mma let you go back to sleep." I climbed over him and was walking out of his room. When I got to the door, he stopped me.

"Thanks, Sam," he said.

"No problem, bro," I said, then walked back to my room to wake up Jack. I shook his shoulder. "Jack, wake up." Nothing. "Babe! Wake up!" Nothing. I knelt down in front of my bed on my knees before kissing him. When I pulled back, his eyes fluttered open and he smiled at me.

"If I could wake up like that all the time, I would be extremely happy."

I scoffed then giggled. "Get up."

He sighed. "Do I have to?"

I nodded. "Yes, it's two in the afternoon."

His eyes widened. "Holy shit."

"Exactly." I stood up. "Come on."

"Alright." He kicked the covers off of him and sat up. "Why'd you let me sleep so long?"

"Because we didn't go to bed until four in the morning last night because we were playing video games, remember?"

"Yeah." He put his face in his hands, but rubbed his eyes.

I went over to my dresser and got out jeans and a tank top. Jack looked up at me just as I shut the drawer. He didn't say anything, though. "Yes?" I asked.

"So, you can slap me for asking this, but how come I never see Kyle, Aiden, and Kaylee's dad? I mean, I know I've met him, but..." he trailed off and looked up at me.

"He's a truck driver now. He sleeps during the day and is gone at night." I shrugged.

"Ah, I see."

"Mmhmm." I sat next to him, setting my clothes down next to me.

"Can I take a shower?"

"Nope. You get to be filthy the entire time here."

"Ha-ha," he mocked, grabbing clothes from his bag. "Towel?" he asked.

"Cabinet across from the bathroom."

"Oh. Okay, thanks then."

"Yup." He walked out of my room, leaving me to change my clothes.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14: I Guess You Can Say Things Are Pretty Serious**

**Sammy's POV**

I sat down on the couch with my glass of water next to Jack. I took a sip before setting it down on the coffee table in front of me. This was when I caught Jack staring at me. "What?" I asked.

He shook his head, smiling and wrapping his arms around me. "Nothing. You're just cute." I stuck my tongue out at him because I was blushing and he chuckled. "I give you a compliment and that's your response?"

I kissed his cheek. "There."

"You're so lovey dovey!" Kaylee said, walking in from our room.

"You're single," I retorted. Her face fell as sat next to me. "What's wrong?" I asked shook her head then laid it on my shoulder.

Jack poked her shoulder. "Come on, Kaylee. What's wrong?" he said.

"What do you when your friend is dating the guy you like?"

I breathed in sharply through my teeth and Jack scoffed, then he said, "You ignore it and hope for the best."

"Sounds about right." I sighed. "Why?"

"Because the guy I like is dating my friend and no one likes me." She pulled her legs up on the couch. "I'm not exactly the pretty one."

"What?" Jack and I said together.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Jack said then looked at me. "Sorry, Sammy, but I gotta say this." He looked back at Kaylee, who lifted her head off of my shoulder. "You are gorgeous and you have a good personality. If a guy can't see that then he's an asshole."

"I agree with Jack," I said and pointed to him.

Kaylee got up and hugged me then Jack. "You guys are awesome. Thank you."

"No problem," Jack said as I said, "Mmhmm," and she walked back to Kyle's room.

Jack then looked at me. "You're beautiful, too."

I felt myself blush, but I hugged him, laying my head on his shoulder. "And you're very handsome."

His jaw dropped a little, but it turned into a smile, his eyes lighting up. He laid his head on mine, but didn't say anything.

I smirked to myself and hugged him tighter. But a second later I said, "Jack?"

"Yeah?" he replied.

"Wanna go make out?"

He snorted, but said, "Yeah. Actually, I do."

"Leave the door open!" Kyle shouted.

"Stop fucking eavesdropping!" I yelled as Jack and I both stood up.

"Never!" He came around the corner.

I shook my head and Jack grabbed my hand, tugging on it. I stuck my tongue out at Kyle before walking into my room, shutting the door anyways.

**XXXX**

The rest of the week passed quickly and Jack had to go back home tomorrow. Well, actually, today. It was maybe three in the morning. We were sitting on the couch. He had his arm around my waist and was playing with the ring he gave me on my finger. Aiden, Kaylee, and Kyle were playing Mario Party on the Game Cube, sitting on the floor in front of us.

"Aiden, you fucking suck," Kaylee mumbled.

"My bad. I'll try not to win next time," he replied, rolling his eyes.

I looked down at Jack's hand still spinning my ring. "You having fun with that?" I asked.

He chuckled and nodded. "It's entertaining."

"I know, right?" Kaylee said. "I spent, like, an hour playing with her ring today."

I nodded and looked at Jack. "While you were sleeping."

"Hey, I don't blame you. This is addicting." He smiled and laid his head on my shoulder, but kept playing with the ring.

"You're silly," I mumbled, kissing his nose.

He crinkled his nose for a second. "You're not making fun of it, right?"

"No." I shook my head, kissing his nose again then pecking his lips.

He smiled a little, but then laughed when Kyle yelled, "Mother fucker! I was right by that star! Wario is an asshole."

I giggled and said, "He's the default player, Kyle. Of course he's an asshole."

"I can't believe you guys are playing this on the Game Cube," Jack said.

"We were playing it on the Nintendo 64, but then we wanted to switch games..." Kaylee explained, trailing off because they started a mini game.

Jack glanced up at me and I shrugged with one shoulder since he was occupying the other with his head. But he went back to playing with my ring.

**XXXX**

"Sam, stop wallowing in self pity and get the fuck up and do something!" Kaylee yelled at me.

"Nooo!" I whined, putting my hands over my face. Jack had gone home two days ago.

She jumped on me, a leg on either side of my stomach and her hands on my shoulders. I was laying down on my bed. "Get off of me," I mumbled.

"Get the fuck up."

"Even if I wanted to, I can't because you're sitting on me." My talking sounded muffled because of my hands.

"Samantha Alyson Carter. You'll see him again."

"That doesn't mean I don't miss him, Kaylee Alexa Rigby," I defended as she climbed off of me.

"Go Skype him, or something! Shit. You're in a band. You should know how to stay in contact with people when they or you are away." She grabbed my hand and pulled me into a sitting position, but I flopped back down. "Fuck it. I don't care anymore." She walked out of my room, slamming the door.

I put my hands back over my face and instantly felt bad. She was just trying to help and I haven't done much but this since Jack left. I sighed. I knew she was right, I should get up. But I really don't want to.

Two minutes later my bedroom door swung open again. Kaylee stood there, her arms crossed over her chest and a sly smirk on her face. "I called in reinforcement."

"Unless it's Jack, I don't really give a shit."

"Watch your mouth, Samantha." Cindy. Son of a bitch. I knew it would be her. And she means business. Cindy walked through the door, her hands on her hips. "You need to get your ass up. I don't care how much you miss that boy. You know he wouldn't want you to act like this."

I sighed again. She pulled the right card. But I argued, "I miss him, Cindy!"

"Yeah, and I miss The King Of Queens, Seinfeld, and Everybody Loves Raymond, but I didn't stay in bed when they cancelled those shows."

"That's different."

"Samantha, get up. This isn't healthy," Cindy said, more sympathetically. She walked over to me and looked me up and down. "Chica, have you even showered?" she asked, putting on a Jersey accent.

I giggled and then shook my head before feeling my hair that was greasy. "No."

"Okay, well that's your first step," Cindy added, grabbing my hand and pulling me up. I obliged this time, swinging my legs over my bed.

I yawned and looked up at her. "I needed that. Thank you."

"Anytime, hun." She smiled at me then pointed to Kaylee. "Go take a shower and get dressed. We gotta buy Kaylee a dress for the end of the year dance."

"Mmkay," I mumbled, getting up and going to my dresser to get clothes.

**Jack's POV**

"Rian, leave me the hell alone. I'm fine."

"That's such a lie." When I didn't sit up or so much as open my eyes from my spot on my couch, he grabbed my arms by my wrists and pulled me off of the couch to the floor.

"What the fuck, dude!" I rubbed my eyes and looked up at him. "Why did-"

"If me and Cassadee can still maintain a relationship, then you and Sammy should be able to, too. You'll fucking see her again. Get your ass up and pack your bags, so we can go on tour!" he yelled at me.

I stood up slowly and saw Alex and Zack in the kitchen, watching our exchange. Zack was shaking his head, his eyes closed. Alex was biting his lip in a pathetic attempt to stifle a laugh. Rubbing my eyes again, I went back to my room. I grabbed a suitcase and threw it on my bed before I started getting clothes out of my closet and throwing them in.

"You know," I looked up at my door to see Alex leaning against the frame with his hands in his pockets, "you could just ask her to move in with you."

I kind of just stared at him for a minute. He shifted uncomfortably and looked down at the ground. "I, uh, I mean, that way you could see her more?" he finished looking back up at me and scratching the back of his neck.

"Do you think she would?" I finally asked.

Alex scoffed and smirked. "Absolutely, dude." I was thinking for a while and Alex added. "What are you thinking about?"

I chewed on the inside of my cheek. "How to ask her."

"Well, Jack," he started while chuckling, "'Do you wanna move in?' is a good start." I threw the first thing I could think of at him, which was a shirt I had in my hand. "I'm just saying," Alex said after he caught the shirt, "I know if you asked her she'd probably move in with you. So, you," he threw the shirt back at me, "have nothing to worry about."

I looked down at the shirt in my hands. Did I really want to live with her? I mentally huffed. Yeah, I did. It would make a lot of things easier. I shook my head, shaking away the thoughts of doubts that I knew would come back. I looked back up to see Alex was gone and took a deep breath. Next time I see her in person, I'll ask her to move in with me. That is, if I still feel this sure about it...


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15: You Belong To Me**

**Sammy's POV**

_**About Four Months Later**_

"I fucking won!" I jumped up so I was standing on Alex and Rian's couch, my arms in the air. "Suck on that!"

Alex stuck his tongue out at me as I sat back down next to him. He wrapped an arm around my neck just before he pulled my head down to his chest and started giving me a noogie. I tried to get free, but he said, "She can't get away! She can't get away!"

I pushed him away and fixed my hair, but was laughing a little. "You're mean." I pouted.

"And your hair is black again."

I looked down at my hair. Alex picked up some of it in his fingertips. He was right. I haven't dyed it again since the first time it was blonde. My tips are blonde now because it grew back, but it's a little faded.

I shrugged and pushed his hand away. "Yup. Where's Zack?"

"Store with Rian. Where the hell did Jack go?"

I shrugged again before leaning back and calling out, "Barakat!"

I heard a faint, "Carter!"

"Where are you?"

He reappears half a minute later with a sandwich. "I got hungry."

"You're such a bottomless pit. We just ate lunch twenty minutes ago." Jack shrugged and bit into his sandwich.

I looked at Alex, who also shrugged. "I'm a little hungry, too."

"So, go eat something."

"I needed your permission?" he laughed, standing up. I just waved him off and he walked into the kitchen.

Jack set his plate down on the table behind him. He fell on the couch next to me, his arms finding their way around my waist and his head falling to my shoulder. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you, too." I smiled and leaned my head on his.

"Awww." We both looked up at Alex to see him smiling and making a heart with his hands.

"Shut up," We both mumbled. I crossed my arms and Jack stuck his tongue out at Alex.

Alex chuckled, grabbed his phone next to me, and walked back into the kitchen. "You guys are silly!" he called.

"Don't take my words!" I called back, standing up and following after him. Jack quickly caught up and grabbed my hand.

"I will take your words," Alex said from behind the fridge. He sighed before shutting the door. "I have no idea what to eat. Video game time!" He stuck a fist in the air then grabbed my other hand and pulled me into the living room and down on the couch next to him.

A second later, Jack came into the living room and sat next to me. He sighed and looked at Alex. "Stop taking my girlfriend from me."

Alex huffed as he picked up a controller. I, on the other hand, put my arms around Alex and cuddled into him. He looked down at me then up at Jack. "Looks like she took me."

Alex went back to playing his driving game and Jack hugged my middle as he cuddled into my side. "Saaaammyyyyy," he whined.

"But, Jack! Alex is so warm!" I defended.

Alex smirked. "I do try to maintain a stable body temperature."

I scoffed and Jack pouted. "Let go of him, please?" I sighed and let go of Alex just to put my arms around Jack, who smiled in content. "Thank you."

**XXXX**

Jack jumped on his bed, landing on his back and laying next to me. I smiled, fighting a laugh, and pulled my legs to my chest. Raising an eyebrow, I asked, "Yes?"

He bit his lip in thought, but then said, "I wanna ask you something."

"Okay," I agreed.

He sat up, facing me, and crossed his legs. "Now you don't have to say yes, but," he paused to scratch his head, "I wanna know if you would move in with me." He looked up at me, hope filling those brown eyes of his.

I blinked a few times, taking in what he asked. My eyes searched the room for a second before falling to his bed. "Wow," I said, surprisingly calm. "Um." I furrowed my brow for a second and scratched my forehead, never looking up. "I don't- I mean-" I shook my head, squinting my eyes closed, but looked back up at Jack. "Yeah."

His eyes lit up and he smiled. "Really?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

"Cool." It's silent and he glanced around the room for a few seconds. "So, now what?"

"I don't know," I laughed lightly. "I have to move in now."

We both chuckled and Jack said, "Yeah." He cocked his head to the side a little. "What are you thinking about?"

"How I'm gonna get all my crap here. What Cindy's gonna think. What Aiden, Kyle, and Kaylee are gonna think. How this will change how often I see them. A lot of stuff." I shrugged. "What about you?"

"How awesome it's going to be living with you!" He kissed me.

I smirked when he pulled back then said, "I'm going to be living with you!"

"You're going to be living with me!"

I narrowed my eyes and looked to the side. "That's so weird saying that," I whispered loudly.

"Isn't it, though?" Jack stood up, grabbing my hand, and pulling me off of the bed and out of his room. "Come on."

"Where are we going?" I asked him, letting him lead me to wherever.

"I wanna show you something."

"What is with you and all these surprises?"

He chuckled, but shrugged, and led me into the bathroom. Dropping my hand, he opened the cabinet and pointed to an empty shelf. "I cleaned off a shelf for you."

I felt myself grin. "You're cute."

"I'm excited!" he exclaimed. "But thank you, though. You are, too."

"What if I would've said no?" I said, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Then I would've been upset and wanted to know why," he said and I could tell he was being honest. "But I guess I'd be okay." He shrugged again. "But I don't have to worry about that, because you did say yes. Therefore, you'll be living with me!" He wrapped me in a tight, knock the breath out of you, hug.

I giggled and said, "Jack, I can barely breathe."

He loosened his hold. "Sorry."

"It's cool." I wrapped my arms around his skinny waist and leaned my head against his shoulder. "That's still so weird."

"Dude, I know." He leaned back a little just to press his lips to mine in a soft kiss. "I love you."

"I love you, too." I kissed him again. "How did this moment just turn into a cliché love scene?"

Jack laughed and shrugged, unwrapping himself from me. "Because we're that talented."

I considered this. "That's a cool talent."

He shrugged again. "I guess so. So, now what do we do?" He started walking back to his room.

I followed after him, not replying until he jumped on his bed and landed on his back. "I dunno. What do you what to do?"

"I dunno, but I'm bored and want something to do." He was still laying down, but turned so he was facing me. "Or someone." He winked.

I considered this, crossing my arms again. "We could..."

"Really?"

"Yes, Jack. Let's have sex right now."

"Really?"

"No." I shook my head, smiling.

"Don't...do that!" He threw a pillow at me, but was smiling. As he chuckled, he rolled back over into his original position.

I threw the pillow I had caught back at him before sitting next to him. "Awww, c'mon. It was funny." I poked his side, pouting at him.

He shook his head, looking away. "Don't give me that look."

I smiled and shifted closer to him. "Why? 'Cause it works?" I made the same face. He gave me a look, eyes narrowed. "Yes."

I grinned then laid down next to him, cuddling into his side, my head laying on his chest, and my eyes closing. One of his arms went around me. "Can we watch TV, or something?" he asked.

I shook my head, opening my eyes. "Hmm-mm."

"What?"

"Kidding, silly." I looked up at him.

He smirked, but picked up the TV remote and turned it on, flipping through the channels.

_**The Next Day**_

"I told you! What did I tell you? I'm a genius!"

This was how I woke up the next day. Remind me to smack Alex later.

I rolled over onto my stomach, hoping to go back to sleep. But the door to Jack's room opened, Alex shouted, "Sammy!" then tackled me. "You're gonna be in Baltimore more now! Do you know what this means? We get to spend more time together!"

"Our unrequited love can finally be fulfilled," I mumbled, folding my arm on the pillow and laying my head on it.

"Of course. Now get up!" He started jumping on the bed.

"I don't want to," I whined while putting the pillow over my head, holding each side down with a hand.

"But I wanna spend time with you!"

"I wanna sleep. Go entertain yourself with Jack."

Alex stopped jumping. "Nah, I'm not feeling Jalex-y right now." He pulled the pillow off of my head and I rolled over to face him. "I'm feeling Alexammy..." he trailed of and furrowed his brow together. I raised an eyebrow and he shook his head. "Whatever. Just get up." He jumped off of the bed and skipped out the door.

"It would be Salex!" I called after him. I sighed and rubbed my eyes before whispering, "If I don't get up, he'll just come back in here." I sighed again and thought, F it. I'm going back to sleep, before rolling over and doing so.

What felt like five minutes later, I woke up to Jack saying, "Sammy," and shaking my shoulder lightly. I let my eyes flutter open and I looked up at him. He was smirking and he asked, "You were dreaming, huh?" I gave him a confused look and he smirked bigger. "You were talking in your sleep. It was about some guy named Jack. He must've been one cool dude." I blushed and rolled over, not facing him. "And I don't know what he was doing to you, but you-" he laid down next to me and I cut him off.

"Shut up, Jack," I said quietly, my cheeks hot and still blushing.

"You were dreaming about me. I can't just let this go!"

"Yes, you can."

"But I don't want to." He kissed my forehead, then my temple, then my cheek, then my chin, and was going to kiss my lips but I stopped him.

I pulled the covers up and over my head. "Stop it," I whined.

"I don't think that's what you said in your dream." The bed lifted and he pulled the covers off of me before picking me up bridal style. I sighed and gave him a look. He grinned at me. "You need to wake up. We need a Sammy to hang out with." He said that as he started walking into the living room.

Once he set me down I was smothered in a hug by Alex. "Hey!"

"Hi?" I laughed then looked around him at Rian. "Did he have coffee or something?"

"Monster," he answered simply.

Alex let me go and nodded at me, then grabbed my hand, walked me over to the couch, made me sit down, and sat on my lap. His arms went around me, his head fell to my shoulder, and he curled up against me.

"Making yourself comfortable there?" I asked, an eyebrow raised.

"Mmhmm." He nodded and I saw his eyes close.

I looked over at Jack since he was still standing between the hallway and the living room. "Is this what you feel like when I sit on your lap?"

He laughed lightly then shook his head. "No."

"Okay." I put my arms around Alex as Rian sat next to me.

"Sam?"

I looked down at Alex to see he had one eye opened. "Yeah?"

"You're warm and you smell nice."

"Um...thanks, I think," I said. He closed his eye and I looked at Rian. "Did he just wait for me to wake up, or what?"

"He was sitting on Jack." Rian pointed his thumb back at Jack, who was now in the kitchen.

"True story!" Jack called.

My eyes shifted to Zack as he was spinning absentmindedly on the bar stool while he texted someone. "Who ya textin', Zacky?"

He glanced up and smirked at me before looking back at his phone. "No one."

"He won't tell anyone who it is and I've tried to steal his phone, but...well, it's Zack and I don't want my ass kicked," Alex mumbled quickly, never opening his eyes and never moving.

"Ah." It all made sense now. I looked back at Zack. "You have a girlfriend, don't you?" He smirked again, never looking up, but didn't reply. "I'm taking that as a yes."

"Whatever you wanna believe, Sammy," he said as he got up and walked down the hallway, probably to the bathroom.

I sighed and glanced down at Alex, who's breathing was slowing. "I think he fell asleep on me," I whispered.

"Wouldn't surprise me," Rian said.

I was chewing on my lip ring for a few minutes, contemplating getting something I've wanted for a while. "I want spider bites," I finally said.

"You wanna get bit by a spider?" Rian asked, an eyebrow raised.

I giggled. "No...I wanna get another lip piercing so I have spider bites." I pointed to my current lip ring. "It would be right next to it."

"Oh." Rian shrugged. "Go for it."

"What are we going for?" Jack asked, sitting next to Rian. He quizzically looked at Alex for a second then looked back at me.

"Sammy wants another piercing," Rian said.

Something flashes across Jack's eyes, but I don't know what it is. "It would be right next to the one on my lip, making it spider bites."

Jack shrugged. "If you want one. We can go to a tattoo parlor."

"Okay, but one problem."

"What?" Rian and Jack said together. I pointed to Alex and they both said, "Ohhh."

"I got this," Rian said before getting up and shaking Alex's shoulder. "Alex, bro, wake up!" Alex whined, squinted his eyes, and held me tighter. "Alex, you gotta get up. Sam's gonna go get another piercing."

Alex opened one eye. "Where at?"

"My lip. Let me up," I said.

"Mkay." He rubbed his eyes while climbing off of me then stretched.

"Merrick!" Jack called down the hallway. Zack appeared half a second later. "Let's go." He shrugged and we all left.

About an hour later I was back at Jack's house, just me and him, with another black stud in my lip. We were in his room. "Well?" I asked.

He looked at me, his head titled to the side a little for a minute or two. "Can I kiss you with it?" he asked. I laughed, but leaned up and pressed my lips to his. A few seconds later, I pulled back. He smiled and nodded. "Jack approves."

I laughed and kissed him again, but broke it. "That kinda hurts," I said, frowning a little.

"What? Why? Is it something I'm doing?" Jack got a scared look on his face.

"What? No. I just had a needle shoved through my lip."

He shivered. "Subtle, please. Subtle."

I smiled sheepishly. "Sorry."

"It's okay." He shrugged and went to kiss me again, but stopped and thought a moment before kissing my cheek. He smiled at me. "I didn't want to hurt you again."

I shook my head, wrapping my arms around him. "It would've been worth it."

He hugged me back and kissed the top of my head. "By the way, did I mention I love you?"

I smirked. "Maybe once or twice."

"Okay. Just checking."

"And Jack? I love you, too."

"Oh." He sighed in fake relief. "Good. I got scared." I laughed and pulled back from him. I just kind of stared at him. "What?" he asked.

I shook my head, smiling a little. "Nothing," I said. But I was really thinking, how the fuck did I get this kid?

"I don't think I believe you," he said.

I shrugged. "I just don't get it." I sat down on his bed.

He took a seat next to me. "Get what?"

"How the fuck I get to call you my boyfriend," I said. Might as well just be honest.

He smirked. "Well, you see, Sammy, about a year ago I asked you out for the first time-"

"I know, Jack," I laughed.

"I know." He put an arm around my shoulders. "And I know what you mean, too. And I have no idea how I can call you my girlfriend either."

"I've had a lot of firsts with you," I said, leaning into him.

He smirked again. "First time having sex."

I rolled my eyes. "First tour, first time staying the night at a boyfriend's house, first Warped Tour..."

"First time sleeping in a bunk with a guy..."

"First VMAs," we said together.

"First love," I added.

"I was your first love?" He raised his eyebrows.

"I'm only nineteen." I smiled.

"Well...okay then." He said, then half smiled. I pulled my legs up onto the bed, folding them under me, and putting my arms around him. He then asked, "Sam, will you take a nap with me?"

I shrugged. "If you want me to."

"I want you to."

I giggled. "Okay."

He pulled back from me and crawled under the covers of his bed before holding open his arms. I crawled into them and was asleep within minutes.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16: She's Got Broken Things Where Her Heart Should Be**

**Sammy's POV**

_**The Next Day**_

I woke up to faint singing that became clear-and was really Alex belting out a song-once the door to Jack's room opened.

"-WANT SO LET ME GET UP THERE! I'M THE BADDEST BABY IN THE ATMOSPHERE! TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT SO WE COULD DO JUST WHAT YOU LIKE!" He started jumping on the bed. "YOU MAKE ME FEEL THAT-"

"La na na na na," I heard Rian and Zack finish quietly.

Alex, still jumping, went on. "YOU MAKE ME FEEL SO-"

"La na na na na."

I opened my eyes just as Jack pushed Alex off of the bed. He wrapped his arms around me, holding me down next to him. "Jack, let me the fuck up," I said through gritted teeth.

"Sorry, no can do," he said, kissing my cheek.

Alex came back a second later with a nerf gun in his hands. He started shooting at me and Jack. "COME AT ME, BRO!"

Pushing Jack away, I stood up on the bed before jumping off and running after Alex. He took off running and I jumped on his back, tackling him. He rolled over on his back as I grabbed the nerf gun, then straddled his hips and began shooting him.

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Okay! I'm sorry!" he yelled, blocking his face with his arms that formed an X.

Rian and Zack just kind of watched with an eyebrow raised. I shot the last foam green ball at Alex, set the nerf gun down, and climbed off of him to stand up. "Come at _me_, bro." I walked past Jack, who had followed and was laughing, and back to his room. Once I grabbed clothes for a shower, I went back down the hall, but stopped when I saw them all standing there with nerf guns pointed at me. I raised an eyebrow, slightly scared for my life.

"Sorry, Sam. You know I love you. But Alex was my first love," Jack said with a smirk. I think I was the only one that saw his wink.

"Four against one and I'm a girl! And Zack has muscles! How is that fair?" I asked.

"It's not." Zack nodded in the direction of the bathroom. The fuck? I thought. But then he made a gesture that I understood as there was one in the bathroom. Ha, he's on my side! I smirked at them.

Without another word, Zack, Rian, and Alex started shooting at me. I darted into the bathroom, getting the nerf gun that was set out for me. As I came out, Jack went over to the side I was standing on.

Alex and Zack looked betrayed, but Rian smirked and shook his head whispering, "I knew it."

Let the nerf war begin.

An hour and one shower later, Alex was glaring at me on Jack's couch. "You shot me in the neck."

"It'll look like you have a hickey," I said.

Jack, who was sitting between me and Alex, (he insisted he needed to separate us) raised an eyebrow. "Care to explain?""Aiden shot me in the neck with a nerf gun and it left a welt that looked like a hickey," I explained.

"Oh. So, that's what they're calling it now?" Alex said, smirking.

"You're an ass," I snapped.

"You know what, Sammy? Go suck a dick."

"Hey, hey, hey," Jack said, looking at Alex. "What Sammy does to a dick is none of your business."

"Because it's your's," Alex mumbled.

"I am going to smack you!" I said to Alex.

"Do it then!"

"Fine." I tried to smack Alex, but Jack grabbed my hand.

"Do you guys need to get drunk and have a heart to heart?" he asked, looking between me and Alex.

Alex and I both looked down and mumbled, "No."

"Alright, then. Chill the fuck out."

"Who would've thought Jack could handle a problem like this?" Rian said from the kitchen. I scoffed, Alex huffed, and Jack shook his head.

_**Two Days** **Later**_

"Sammy, where's my phone?" Jack called from the living room.

"I don't know!" I called back, pulling on my jeans. I had just got out of the shower, my hair still wet.

"Well, you had it last!"

"That doesn't mean I know where it's at because I gave it back to you!" I snapped.

"You don't have to get mad, Sammy. I was just asking," he replied, frustrated. He came into his room and started looking around.

"Why don't you just call it?" Why the hell do we sound so pissed off? Oh, yeah. Because we kind of are. He can't find his phone and he keeps snapping at me. We've been on edge all day and pretty much couldn't talk to each other without fighting.

"Well, okay. Where's your phone so I can call it?"

I thought a minute. "I don't fucking know!" I turned and walked out of his room and into the kitchen.

"See? You are absolutely no help!"

"Why do you need your phone anyways?" I called.

He came into the kitchen a short time later, but quickly walked past it and to the living room. He started lifting up the couch cushions when he said, "I don't. I just don't know where it's at and that bothers me."

"It would," I snorted.

"What the fuck is your problem?" He stopped messing with the couch.

"Nothing, Jack. Absolutely nothing," I spat before walking back to his room.

"Seriously?" He was following me. "Are you PMSing, or something?"

I scoffed. "Yes, Jack." I spun around to face him. "Way to blame it on something that's never been a problem before," I said, sarcastically.

"Well, I don't fuckin' know! All I want is to find my phone. You're just being a bitch about all of this!" he yelled with a scowl. I jumped. He's yelled at me, but never like that before.

I shook my head, tears forming in my eyes and walking past him, all the way out of his house. Once the door slammed shut behind me, I sat down on the cement in front of the porch and put my face in my hands.

It amazes me how something this simple can trigger a breakdown.

I was crying for about ten minutes when I heard the door open again, footsteps, and then someone sat next to me. I felt Jack's arms wrap around me and he whispered in my ear, "Sammy, I'm sorry. Please don't cry. I didn't mean any of it." He laid his head on my shoulder after kissing the side of my head.

But it wasn't just what happened with Jack that I was crying about. It was everything. My parents, my sister, the guilt I still felt for cheating on Jack, feeling like a slut because Jack was five years older than me, pissing off Aiden, Kyle, and Kaylee before the last tour. Every fuck up, every fake 'sorry' and guilt for every person I fought, failing my first year and a half of high school...Just everything I could ever be upset about. I never really realized how long I had held everything in.

Eventually, I wrapped my arms around Jack, too, and leaned into his chest while I was still crying. Every part of me screamed I didn't deserve him and it was all I could do to not let go, which only made me cry more.

I sobbed and sniffed and Jack held me tight, his head laying on mine. What felt like hours later, he picked me up, bridal style, and carried me back into the house. He set me down on the couch where he just hugged me again.

Sniffing again, I wiped my tear stained face with my hand and pulled away from Jack. I was still crying, just not as hard. I looked up at Jack and saw worry, love, confusion, and some other emotions swimming in his brown eyes. "I'm sorry," I whispered, looking down at my hands in my lap.

He shook his head, keeping his gaze on me. "Don't. I was stupid. I didn't mean to make you cry."

"It's not just you I'm crying about!" I said, desperately. He looked a little scared for a second and like he didn't know what to do. I wiped my face again and whispered, "It's everything."

I was pulled into a hug and to his chest again. "Start from the beginning."

So, I told him what he already knew-which was everything but feeling like a slut and still feeling guilty and my new found one of how I don't deserve him. He just listened, commenting or questioning occasionally. When I was done with that much, he kissed my forehead.

"It's all okay now, Sam," he said.

I nodded. "I know. I just never really got it out."

Jack asked if that was it and I hesitantly shook my head, tears still slowly falling from my eyes and my head against his chest, my arms around him as well. He told me to keep going, so I did. Every last bit. When I was done with that much, he pulled back from me and took my face in his hands.

"Samantha Alyson Carter, you are by no means a slut and nothing you ever do will ever make you one. So what if we're a few years apart? F that shit. We still act like we're sixteen half the time." He chuckled a little at the end, causing me to give a small smile. "Smiling looks good on you," he went on, wiping more tears off of my cheeks with his thumbs.

I sniffed and looked down to slightly hide my blush. "Thanks."

He didn't give a reply, instead he took my face in his hands again. "Would you please stop feeling bad about cheating on me? That was over a year ago, Alex L has a girlfriend now, and I love you with every part of me. That doesn't even matter now." He pecked my lips. "And, if anything, I don't deserve you."

I couldn't take it anymore. My hands went to his face as I leaned up and kissed him so passionately it was like trying to pass all of my love within that one kiss. He smiled against my lips and put his hands on my hips, gently pushing me back. "I love you. Don't ever forget that."

"I love you, too," I said, my voice small, and smiled. I wiped my face again, noticing the tears stopped.

"Can I confess something?" Jack asked after a second.

"After all I just confessed to you? Hell, yeah."

He and I chuckled together but he said, "That was kind of scary."

I gave him a confused look. "How?"

"Sammy, you almost never cry. It was hard to watch that."

I shrugged and mumbled an, "I'm sorry."

"No, don't be. I just didn't expect it." He kissed my forehead, then my cheek, then pecked my lips.

I sniffed again and wiped my eyes that were probably puffy. "Neither did I," I said, which was the truth. I stood up and went into the kitchen to get a paper towel.

"What are you doing?" Jack asked.

"I need to blow my nose," I replied before doing so. Throwing away the paper towel, I went back to the living room and sat next to Jack, cuddling into him. "Thank you."

"For what?" he asked, his arm draping over my shoulders and his hand beginning to play with my hair.

"Calming me down, making me feel better."

"Oh." He shrugged with one shoulder since my head was on the other. "It's no big deal."

My arms tightened around him. "It was to me."

I then began to feel like a total asshole because I was crying over the stupidest things ever. Stuff that had already happened and stuff that I shouldn't even worry about anymore.

Wow, I'm a jerk.

"What's that look?" Jack asked.

I snapped out of my thoughts and glanced up at Jack to see him staring at me. "I feel like an asshole for crying over that stuff."

"You're allowed to be upset, Sammy. It happens. If what happened to you happened to me, I'd probably be crying, too."

I didn't know what to say so I just sniffed, once again, and let me eyes close. "I love you," I whispered.

"I really doubt it's as much as I love you." I could tell he was smirking.

"That's because it's more."

"Nah." He shook his head.

I sighed a little before cuddling into him even more. He looked down at me, a look on his face I couldn't really read. "What's that look?" I asked.

Jack shook his head, half smiling a bit. "Just thinking." I dropped it at that, leaving him in his thoughts.

**XXXX**

"How much would you make fun of me if I told you I wanted to go see Breaking Dawn?"

Jack got a look on his face that was a mix of confusion, being creeped out, worry, and like he didn't know what to say. "I mean, I guess..." he scratched the back of his neck. "If you wanna go, I'll go with you." He looked at me, managing a smile, but had all of the same emotions on his face.

I laughed a little. "You don't have to."

"Lisa would probably go with you," Alex offered. He was sitting next to me on the couch at his house.

Rian chimed up from the other side of Alex. "Cassadee would probably go, too."

I looked down at Zack on the floor in front of Jack. "What about your new girlfriend?"

He fought a smile, failing. "I do not have a girlfriend."

"Oh, but you do."

Zack sighed and looked up at me. "She would love to go."

"So, you do have a girlfriend? See! I was right!" I smiled victoriously and crossed my arms over my chest.

"Dude," Jack said, "why the fuck didn't we get to know?"

"Zack, that's not cool," Rian said.

"Uh, yeah, bro! What the hell is that?" Alex added.

Zack shrugged. "It never came up."

"That's bullshit," Alex, Jack, Rian, and I all said at once.

We all shared looks and I said, "That was amazing." Alex and Jack nodded enthusiastically.

"Just leave it alone, alright? Go see Twilight part four," Zack said.

"Twilight part four-point-five."


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17: Time After Time**

**Sammy's POV**

_**One Year Later**_

So, here I was back at Jack's house again. I smiled up at him and he was grinning. I had just got off of a tour. He told me there was something he wanted to ask me when I got here, making me nervous and way too curious. But because I wanted to know I put up with it.

"So, are you gonna tell me yet?" I asked him, crossing my legs as I sat down next to him on his bed.

He shook his head, grinning again. "Not yet."

I sighed. "That's not cool."

He hesitated before saying, "It's mainly because I don't know how yet...and because I'm really nervous about it."

I furrowed my eyebrows together, trying to figure out just what he was talking about. "You're not planning to break up, are you?"

He shook his head furiously, eyes wide. "Hell, no! I love you too much for that!"

"Okay," my face softened, "just checking."

He nodded. Since he was laying down, he looked around me at the clock. "So, I wanna take you out tonight...and I made reservations-"

"Look at you planning ahead!" I teased, grinning and poking his stomach.

He gave me a look. "Thanks. Now let me finish. I made reservations at a restaurant that's not exactly jeans and a t-shirt style. But I figured since you live here now-"

"Gosh, that's still so weird saying that!" I said.

Jack laughed. "Isn't it, though? Let me finish. We have to dress nice. Not, like, black tie formal, but nice."

I nodded. "I get it. How much time do I have?"

"About two hours."

"Psh!" I waved my hand. "I only need about thirty minutes."

He chuckled. "Okay. I just wanted to tell you so I didn't, like, spring it on you ten minutes before we left. Like, 'Oh, by the way, we're going here now'."

I smirked. "Thanks, then. So..." I laid down next to him on my back, "what do we do now?"

He shrugged, but sat up before climbing off of the bed and over to the closet. He dug around a second, going all the way to the back of one of the clothes racks. A second later, he pulled out a black dress with silver sequins and held it up to show me. "I think you should wear this."

I walked over to him and took the dress from him. "I haven't worn this since homecoming sophomore year." I looked down at myself, then at the dress, then up at Jack. "I don't know if it'll still fit...in more ways than one." He just titled his head to the side and gave me a really confused look. I shook my head and walked out of his room, aiming for the bathroom.

"Why don't you just try it on in here?" he called after me.

"Because that's weird!" I called back. It really wasn't, but I wanted to see what it looked like and for that I needed a mirror.

"No, it's not!" I could tell he was laughing a little.

I shut the door to the bathroom, stripped down to my underwear, then slipped on the dress. I looked in the mirror after successfully zipping up the dress. It still fit, except my boobs got bigger, making it tight there. But that's a good thing, right?

I shrugged at my own thoughts and walked out of the bathroom back to Jack's- well, our room. He was sitting on the bed, talking on the phone and facing away from me. Being nosy, I stayed quiet and just listened.

"Fuck, yeah, I'm nervous," Jack said. I heard the person talking, but couldn't make out anything he or she said. "Well, it's not everyday I ask somebody this, Alex." More talking. "Nope. She just knows I'm taking her out to dinner."

I shifted on my feet, still waiting and trying to figure out just what was going on. "That's to say the least." God damn it, I thought. I have to sneeze. "Well, what am I supposed to say? 'Hey, Sam, I was just wondering...would you mar-'"

I sneezed and wiped my nose. He cut off and looked up at me, surprise all over his face. "Alex, I'll call you back." He hung up and quickly turned around on his bed so he was facing me. After a second, he smirked and looked down at my chest, making me give him a look and cross my arms. But he grinned and nodded, meeting my eyes. "Jack likes."

"Sammy's tits can barely breathe," I said bluntly, turning around to go back to the bathroom to get the clothes I changed out of.

Jack was laughing when I came back, so I asked, "Was it really that funny?" as I started to change back into my jeans and t-shirt.

He nodded, still chuckling a little. "It was just the way you said it."

"I'm serious." I sat next to him before falling backwards so now I was laying down. "What about the dress I wore to the VMAs two years ago?"

Jack shrugged and fell back next to me. "Go for it."

"Alright then."

_**Late That Night**_

"Jaaaaack!" I whined, "would you just tell me already!" He chuckled and unlocked the door to the house before stepping inside. Since we were holding hands, I followed after him. "Laughing is not an answer," I said, crossing my arms over my chest. We already ate and he has still yet to tell me what he wanted to.

Jack set his keys on the counter before turning back to me. I saw nervousness in his eyes and all over his face. I let my arms fall to my sides and he took a deep breath before taking both of my hands in his. I looked at him quizzically before he spoke. "We've been together for almost two and a half years now, right?"

I nodded, my eyes never leaving his. "Yeah."

He took another deep breath before continuing. "I love you...so much...more than anything or anyone, and I know you're only twenty, and I'm only twenty-five, but I don't wanna spend my life with anyone else." He dropped one of my hands and reached into his leather jacket pocket. He pulled out a little black box and got down on one knee.

My eyes went to the size of saucers. HOLY FUCKING SHIT!

He opened the box and held it in front of me. "Samantha Carter, will you marry me?"

Well, that's one way to surprise the crap out of me. I wanted to debate this in my head, but my mind was screaming an answer and I knew it was what I really wanted to do.

I was literally speechless, so I used my actions instead of my words.

Quickly, I wrapped my arms around his neck and tackled him with a passionate kiss. It pushed him onto the floor and onto his back with me on top of him. He was shocked, but after a few seconds his lips moved with mine. When the kiss broke he asked with a smile, "So, is that a yes?"

"That is a hell fucking yes." I kissed him again and his hands moved to hold my waist.

A few seconds later we broke apart again. He smirked at me and held up a ring. "You need something."

I smirked myself and eyed the gold ring before taking it from him and putting it on the same finger as my promise ring, that I took off. "And, Jack?" I climbed off of him and sat next to him with my legs folded underneath me.

He sat up, too, and began playing with the ring. "Yeah?"

"I love you, too."

He grinned then kissed me again, leaving his forehead against mine. "I can't believe you said yes," he whispered.

"You really thought I would say no?" I kissed him again.

"I was hoping you wouldn't." His hands moved to my hips and he kissed me again.

I pulled back first and said, "I'm still gonna wear this one," holding up the silver promise ring from my nineteenth birthday. He shrugged and I moved it to my opposite ring finger. That doesn't mean anything, right? "Oh, my gosh, I'm engaged!" I was smiling, but put my face in my hands and fell back onto the floor again.

"I know!" Jack said. "Sam, we're getting married!"

"That's even weirder than saying I live with you!" I moved my hands from my face to see Jack smiling, pure happiness in his eyes and I'm sure my face looked the same.

I sat up and he said while laughing a little, "Well, I guess we gotta plan a wedding."

I laughed a little and stood up, holding my hand out for him to help him up. He took it and I pulled him up, him wrapping me into his arms as soon as he was standing. "I love you so much." he whispered, laying his head on mine.

"I love you, too," I whispered back.

**XXXX**

"HE DID WHAT?"

I winced and pulled the phone back from my ear as Aiden yelled that. "He asked me to marry him," I said, putting the phone back to my ear and shoving my toothbrush in my mouth through a smile.

"What'd you say! What'd you say!" I heard Kyle yell.

I giggled and spit out tooth paste into the sink before answering. "I said yes, of course."

"OH MY GOSH!" they both yelled together, followed by stuff I couldn't understand.

"Kyle! Aiden! Chill the fuck out. One at a time, please." I put my tooth brush in my mouth again.

"When's the wedding? How'd he ask you? When did he ask you? We want details, Sammy!" Kyle said.

I laughed and spit out tooth paste again. "You guys are sooo chicks on the inside. I'll give you answers later. I gotta call Kaylee." I hung up before they could say anything.

I put my tooth brush up and rinsed my mouth out. I was just about to dial Kaylee's number when I heard my name being called. Flipping off the lights, I walked out of the bathroom and was smothered in a hug by Alex, Zack, and Rian. They all started talking at once so I said, "Guys! I can't hear all of you at once."

They let me go and I saw Jack standing across the hall, up against the wall with his arms crossed and smiling at me. I shook my head and looked back at the three guys in front of me. "Yes?"

"First of all, congratulations," Rian said, smiling at me.

"Thank you." I smiled back. "What else ya got?"

"You're gonna be, like, our sister-in-law." Zack grinned.

I laughed and shook my head. "Okay...? What else?"

"I thought he was gonna chicken out." Alex shrugged.

"Hey!" Jack said, eyebrows furrowed in a scowl at Alex.

He shrugged again. "I'm sorry. I thought you were. But," he turned back to me before picking me up in a hug, "you're getting married!"

I giggled and he kissed my cheek before setting me down. "Yes, I am."

"Jack's glowing," Rian said, grinning and pointing at Jack.

He blushed and looked down at the floor while stuffing his hands in his pockets, but I could tell he was still smiling. I'm pretty sure I was glowing, too.

"He's, like, oozing happy," Alex added, smiling as well.

I shuddered. "I hate that word.

"What?" Alex raised an eyebrow. "Oozing?"

"Yes, stop it."

Zack furrowed his eyebrows. "What other words do you not like?"

"Panties."

All of the guys laughed and I went into the living room, collapsing on the couch. Alex sat next to me with a smirk. "Panties?"

"It's just- it's weird and super feminine and I just don't like it." I sighed. "It doesn't- Every time I think of that word, I think of thongs, and-" I cut off, shaking my head and giving up on trying to explain as Alex chuckled. "And I hate the word seeps or seeping, and slid. But slide is okay...wait. No, it's not."

"All of those sound dirty."

"Then I don't need to explain my reasoning, do I?"

Alex shook his head. "Nope."

I looked at the TV, rolling my eyes at the movie that was playing. "Home Alone?" I asked, turning around to look at Jack in the kitchen.

He nodded enthusiastically before sitting in between Alex and I. "It's a great movie!"

I looked around Jack at Alex. "We tried...it just..." He shrugged, giving up on finding his words. "It was a fail."

I looked at Jack, who was watching the screen intently. He had his legs crossed and was resting his chin on his hands. I snapped my fingers in front of his face. He whimpered a little, a scowl forming on his face. I snapped my fingers again in front of his gaze and he never took his gaze from the TV. "Stop distracting me...!" he whined.

I giggled and pulled my legs to my chest then said, "Sorry."

"It's okay. Now shh! Shh!" He held up his hands, similar to the 'calm down' gesture. "Nobody talk. Home Alone is on."

"You know who we haven't seen in forever?" Alex said, leaning around Jack to look at me.

"Shhh!" Jack said again.

I rolled my eyes, jumped over the back of the couch, walked around it, and sat next to Alex. "Who haven't you seen in a while?"

"Kyle, Aiden, and Kaylee."

I nodded. "This is true. It's been about two years."

Zack sat on the arm rest next to me. "But since Jack and Sammy are getting married, you'll see them again."

I smiled to myself, which made Alex nudge my shoulder. "You really love him, don't you?" he said quietly.

I half smiled and nodded. "Yeah. I do."

"Awww!" Zack said.

Rian sighed and sat next to Jack, where I was moments ago. They both were watching the movie and obviously not paying attention to our conversation. But Rian looked like he didn't really want to.

"Shut up, Zack," I crossed my arms and sank down in my seat.

"Okay, but I do have a question."

"Ask away."

"Do you know when you wanna get married?"

I shrugged. "We haven't gotten that far yet."

**XXXX**

"So, then when do you want to get married?"

Jack shrugged and crossed his legs. "That depends on how fast you want to get married." He had a look in his eyes as he said that, and I took at as he already had at least a time frame planned out.

I moved so I was facing him, my back against the arm of the couch and my legs pulled to my chest. "Jack, you already have an idea."

He sighed then looked up at me. "December first."

I gave him a confused look. "How'd you come up with that?"

"December is the twelfth month, it would be the first of the month, this year is 2013." He shrugged again. "Twelve plus one equals thirteen."

I considered this for a minute then said, "That's actually kind of genius." I smiled. "Who knew Jack had it in him." I ruffled his hair and he smirked, knocking my hand away gently. "So, we've decided on December first?"

"If that's okay with you," he said.

"It's okay with me."

"Then it's settled. December first, 2013, you will be Samantha Alyson Barakat." He smiled.

I felt myself smile, ignoring the nerves beginning to tear at my stomach. "I guess so."

**Author's Note-**

**Hi, I take forever to update, even though I have a lot written. I suck, it's okay, you can say it, I know. -That was lame. I'll try to update again Saturday-ish.**

**-Kelsey**


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18: Nerves**

**Sammy's POV**

"How's it goin', fiancé?" Jack said, sitting next to me on the couch at Alex and Rian's.

"That is so freaking weird," I said, laying my head on his shoulder and leaning into him.

"Dude," he replied, "it is, though!" He put an arm around my shoulders. "But really cool at the same time." He grinned and kissed my forehead.

I smiled and Cassadee sat next to me. "You guys are adorable."

I felt my cheeks flush, but I said, "Stop it, Cass," while rolling my eyes.

"You are, though!" she said, still smiling. She reached over me and poked Jack. "You're blushing."

"Stop it," he said, pulling his legs to his chest and hiding his face in them.

"Why does he always resemble a little kid?"

I shrugged. "Because he's Jack."

Alex walked into the room singing, "It's not gay if it's a three way."

I raised an eyebrow and looked at him as he sat next to Cassadee. She looked at me and I said, "But, Alex, it totally depends on how you look at it."

He narrowed his eyes at me. "Touché."

Jack chuckled and said, "Yeah, what if it's three guys?"

"What if it's three chicks?" Alex retorted.

"That's hot."

"What is so hot about lesbians!" I exclaimed.

Cassadee shrugged, but Alex and Jack laughed. "You have to be a guy to understand," Jack said, patting my head. I poked my tongue out at him and leaned back, crossing my arms.

"It's because-" Alex started, but Cass cut him off.

"I'd rather not understand," she said. "Oh, hey," she looked at me and Jack, "congratulations. I never told you that." She smiled.

"Thank you," Jack and I said at the same time.

"Look at that. That's some hardcore relationship shit," Alex said.

"See?" Cassadee grinned and with a wave of her hand said, "You guys are cute together."

"Cassadee, please stop," I said, hiding my face in my hands.

She giggled. "Never." I stuck my tongue out at her.

I then wanted to test something. So, I poked the side of Jack's stomach. He giggled like a little girl and said, "That's my stomach," his voice going an octave higher. I laughed and Alex and Cassadee both looked at Jack. I poked his stomach again, getting the same laugh. Alex, Cassadee, and I all laughed, then I poked him again. "Stop it!" he whined, then pouted at me.

"But it's funny," I said.

"Oh, really?" he poked my stomach.

I giggled and shifted closer to Cassadee. "No."

Jack poked my stomach again. "But it's funny," he mocked.

"Stop it!" I whined grabbing both of his hands.

"Okay." I hesitantly let go of his hands, then smiled when he didn't go to tickle me again.

Cassadee looked over at Alex. "Are you ticklish?"

He looked at her blankly. "Uh..." Cassadee poked his stomach, to which he flinched and pushed her hand away, giggling slightly but not as girly as Jack.

"Are you ticklish, Cassadee?" I asked, poking her stomach. She didn't flinch. Alex, Jack, and I all groaned, "Aww," and she grinned triumphantly.

**XXXX**

"Pleeeeaaasssse?"

"No."

"Please!"

"Nooo."

"Please."

"No!"

"Please! I'll love you forever!"

"Jack, no."

"But, Sam!"

"But, Jack!"

"Puh-llleeeeassse!"

"Why?"

"Because it's cool!"

"So?"

"Please let me see?"

"Jack, maybe later."

"Pleeeeassse, Sammy!" he pouted. We were sitting on his couch and he was currently asking to see the butterfly tattoo on my back.

I sighed and, despite every protest, grabbed the back of my shirt and pulled it up, balling it into my fists. He started tracing the tattoo, which made me shiver and him chuckle. "Okay. That's all I wanted," he said and stopped tracing it.

I put my shirt back down and looked at him. "That wasn't worth it."

"It was for me!"

"Well, it wasn't for me."

He kissed my cheek. "Sorry. It was for me, though." I giggled and leaned into his chest as he put his arms around me. "Sammy?"

"Yes, Jack?"

"We're getting married."

I laughed. "Are we?"

"Yes! How could you forget!"

"I didn't!" I smiled and placed my lips against his jaw.

"You know I do that shit just because I want you to kiss me, right?" he asked.

I narrowed my eyes a bit. "Do you?"

He shrugged. "No. But in the end, I hope you will," he finished, pressing his lips to mine. Not wanting to stop yet, I put my hand on his nape. But, a minute later, Jack and I jumped and broke apart when the front door burst open. The door knob hit the wall and the door shook a little. "Alex, if you put a hole in my wall, you are not allowed to open my front door again."

Alex stepped into the house and checked behind the door. "It's good!" he said and gave a thumbs up. He shut the door and walked over to the couch, sitting next to me. "Zack and Rian are hanging out with their girlfriends. I would be, too, but Lisa's at work. So, I got bored so I came here."

I looked at Jack, who was looking at Alex. But Alex started texting and Jack shrugged with a look in his eyes before kissing me again. "Guys, that is not cool!" Alex said and grabbed the left side of my waist to pull me from Jack.

I giggled and held my hands up in surrender. "I didn't initiate it. Not my fault."

"Want a kiss, too, Alex?" Jack said.

Alex shook his head, but I kissed his cheek anyways, making him smile softly. "You're nice."

"Thanks." I looked at Jack, who was pouting. I rolled my eyes then kissed his cheek, too.

Alex still had his hand on my waist and he was playing with the hem of my shirt, which made me say, "Are you trying to take off my shirt?"

"What?" Jack said, an eyebrow raised at Alex.

Alex chuckled. "No, Sammy. You have a string." He started tugging on a loose string, so I looked down.

"Oh." I moved his hand and broke the string off of my shirt, then held my palm out to Alex, offering him the string. "Still wanna play with it?"

He shrugged and took it from me before playing with it again. Jack's arm wrapped around my waist and I scooted back over to him. "Worried?"

He chuckled then shook his head. "Only if he really was trying to take off your clothes."

"I can make that happen," Alex threw in.

"No, you can't," I said as Jack said, "The hell you will. Only I can do that."

"Okay, that's just being creepy." Alex shook his head.

"I was just saying that I am the only guy that has permission to take off Sam's clothes. See?" He grabbed the bottom off my shirt and started to pull it off.

My eyes widened and I stopped him. "What are you doing?" I pushed his hands away. "Don't do that now." I pulled my shirt back down. "That is just being creepy." I moved away from him and closer to Alex, wrapping my arms around him.

Alex looked down at me. "You're a cuddler."

"What was your first clue?" I laughed. Jack was pouting, so I poked him. "Hey," I poked him again, "hey, you."

"Yes?" he asked, keeping the pout on his face. Alex had his arm slung over my shoulder and around my neck. I was still leaning into him, but I now held my arms open for Jack. He moved into them, his head falling to my shoulder.

"Jack's a cuddler, too," I said.

Jack nodded and Alex said, "Yes. Yes, he is."

"Guys, this is making me tired," Jack said.

"So, how is the wedding planning going?" Alex asked.

Jack and I chuckled and answered together, "It's not."

"What? Why? Is it off?" Alex gave us a really confused look.

"Nooo, silly," I rolled my eyes, "we just haven't done anything yet."

"Ohhh!" A look of realization came over his face. "You had me worried there for a second."

I shook my head, then looked at Jack. "Can we watch a movie?" Hope filled his eyes as he looked at me. I sighed and said, "If it's cool with Alex."

"Alex, can we watch Home Alone?" he asked as soon as I got the words out.

Alex looked like he didn't want to, but said, "I suppose."

"YES!" Jack threw his arms in the air and got up to go get the movie. I laughed at him, along with Alex.

_**One Week Later**_

We were now going on tour and All Time Low was with Hey Monday and a few other bands.

"Right before our wedding. Awesome!" Jack grinned and held a hand up. We were just talking about going on tour together.

I scoffed and slapped his hand before shoving another shirt in my suitcase that was placed on the bed. "We have to plan the wedding on tour and, holy crap, I have to figure out so much for the wedding. Jack, I am going to lose my mind."

He giggled-yes, giggled-and said, "Sam, calm down. It's my wedding, too."

"You're the groom. All you have to do is get a best man and show up."

"I have to get a tux."

"Eh...not necessarily."

He titled his head to the side. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying you could get married in your boxers or completely naked and I wouldn't give a shit."

"Is that permission to do so?"

"I am not having a naked wedding."

"But it would be thinking outside the box, Sammy!"

I laughed and put my laptop into a different bag. "That's a good point. But do you really wanna do that?"

Jack shook his head. "Nah. That would-Yeah, that'd be super creepy. Old fashioned fancy wedding it is."

I laughed again and thought a second once I realized what I almost said. "I almost said 'lol' in normal conversation. I either spend too much time texting or on Facebook...or both."

"I thought you didn't like texting?" He started putting the shirts he was folding into his suitcase, across from me. Yup. Who would've known Jack's organized when it comes to packing?

"I don't, but everyone else does." I shrugged. "So, while we're talking about this...or, we were anyways...do you wanna get married at a church?"

"Sammy, I'll get married in Vegas by an Elvis impersonator for a preacher, if that's what you want, as long as I'm marrying you."

"That just made my day. You're so sweet." I smiled at him.

"Why, thank you, m'lady." He fake bowed and I giggled, rolling my eyes. "But what about your bridesmaids?"

I shrugged. "What about them?"

"Like, who are they going to be?"

"I dunno," I shrugged again. "I guess Cassadee and Kaylee, or do you think your sister would want to be one?"

He shrugged himself. "It's not about her. It's what you want. Kaylee's the made of honor, I take it?"

I nodded. "Most likely. What about your best man?"

"Most likely Alex," Jack replied. He grinned. "See? Look at us sort of planning as we pack."

I chuckled. "I guess we are, huh?" I zipped up both of my bags. "Now I just have to ask them if they'll do it. I guess it's good we get off tour in the beginning of November."

He nodded, his eyes widening a little bit. "Ohhhh, yeah. That way you can still buy a dress and what not and I can get a tux."

We finished packing for him in silence, mainly because he was already almost done. We set the suitcases at the end of the bed. Then Jack placed his hands on my hips and kissed me.

"What was that for?" I asked when he broke the kiss, my arms now around his neck.

He shrugged and kissed me again, quicker this time. "I just had a thought that I wanted to kiss you, so I did." I smirked and he pecked my lips.

I moved back from him, then stood up on the bed before I started jumping on it. "I'm excited." Jack chuckled at me and sat on the edge of the bed. I stopped jumping and sat on my knees behind him. I wrapped my arms around his waist and rested my chin on his shoulder. "You should jump with me."

"Nah, I don't want to."

"Please?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Pleeease?"

"Noo."

"Please, Jack?"

"No, Sammy."

"Jack."

"No."

"Jaaack!"

"Saaaam!"

I sighed a little. "You know you want to."

I saw him glare at me out of the corner of his eye. "So?"

"See?" I let him go then climbed off of the bed and stood in front of him.

"Kiss me."

"What?"

"You heard me. Kiss me."

And now I'm a bit confused. This hasn't exactly happened before. "Okay," I agreed, leaning down and kissing his lips. "Why the random demand of kissing?" I asked, sitting next to him.

He shrugged. "I wanted to know if you would actually do it."

"You wanted to know if I would kiss you or not?" I smirked, scooting back to the pillows as I laid down. "Nope. Never again."

"Aww!" He scooted up next to me, laying down with a pout. "That's not fair." I kissed him again, just because I knew that's what he wanted. "Okay." He pulled me to him.

"Jack, I don't wanna go to sleep yet." I pushed myself out of his arms and rolled over onto my back.

"So, then, what do you want to do?"

"Stay awake."

"Dreams only last for a night."

"What? Ohh. I see what you did there."

He chuckled, rolling onto his stomach and resting an arm over my waist, along with his head on my shoulder. "Will you play with my hair?"

"If you want me to."

"I want you to." I smiled and brought my hand up to run my fingers through his locks. "You're gonna make me fall asleep, and I have to pee."

"Way to be subtle." I moved his arm and nudged him gently. "Go."

"Alright," he sighed, getting up and walking out of the room. I took that opportunity to change into pajama pants and get comfortable under the covers.

Jack came back from the bathroom, then laid down next to me on the bed. "You asleep?" he asked.

I shook my head a little. "Hmm-mm." I rolled over, onto my back so I could look at him.

He snaked an arm around me, pulling me to him but keeping me at his side. I laid my head against his shoulder and asked, "Jack?"

"Yeah?" he replied.

"Do you really want to get married?"

He looked at me. "Absolutely. Why else would I have asked you?"

I shrugged a little. "I don't know..."

"Why? Do you not want to get married? 'Cause I can wait."

I shook my head as soon as he said that. "No. I want to. I guess I'm just nervous."

He nodded. "I am, too."

Or I'm getting cold feet.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19: Here It Goes**

**Sammy's POV**

I woke up the next day to the smell of chocolate chips. Oh shit, my eyes widened, Jack's trying to cook.

I climbed out of bed quickly, cursing myself because I tripped. Oh my gosh, he's gonna burn everything. I brushed my hair, but didn't run to the kitchen. Let's just say I walked quickly. Sure enough, Jack was at the stove.

There was three bowls of what looked like pancake batter on the island. Two of them had mixtures that were hard and crusty, and one had too much water in it. "Jack?" he spun around and I let my eyes trail over the bowls and then up to his eyes. "Do you need help?"

He shook his head and smiled, then pointed his thumb over his shoulder at the pan behind him. "These actually came out okay."

I sat down on the bar stool, rubbing my eyes and pushing the bowls out of the way slightly, watching him to make sure nothing caught on fire. About ten minutes later, a plate of chocolate chip pancakes appeared in front of me, as well as a fork and a glass of orange juice.

I raised an eyebrow at them, then looked up at Jack. He smiled a little and nodded encouragingly. Hesitantly, I picked up the fork and took a bite. I felt my eyes grow wide and I looked up at him. "Who are you and what have you done with my boyfriend?"

"Fiancé," he corrected, followed shortly by him grinning victoriously. "They're good, right?"

"What the hell happened? You are not a good cook," I said, taking another bite.

He gave me a look. "Thanks." I shrugged, taking another bite, and he added, "I don't really know what happened. I tried to make some, it didn't work, I got pissed off and didn't give up until I made a good batch. Sam, I am so proud of myself!"

"I feel like a proud parent or something." I took another bite. These pancakes were awesome.

"Wouldn't it be proud girlfriend?" he asked, making himself a plate of pancakes. "Oh, and do you want some toast?" He held up a loaf of bread.

"Fiancé," I corrected him with a smirk. "And, no. I'm still trying to get over how good these pancakes are. What did you do to them?"

Jack shrugged and put bread into the toaster. "Failed three times, then tried again." He started eating the pancakes himself. "Holy crap! I did a good job!"

"See!" I reached over the counter to mess up his hair. "I'm so proud."

He smirked. "Thanks."

"And you put chocolate chips in them!"

"I know!"

"But, you could've just woken me up. I could've made some."

"But, you looked so tired! And I would've felt like a jerk for waking you up. Plus, you're cute when you're sleeping." He half smiled.

"I am?" I raised an eyebrow. He nodded. "Oh, um, thanks, I guess?" I laughed. He smirked and took a bite out of his food.

_**Two Days Before December First**_

"My heart's a stereo. It beats for you, so listen close. Hear my thoughts-"

I interrupted Jack with, "Are singing while you pee?"

From behind the bathroom door he said, "Are you talking to me while I pee?"

"Touché."

I finished wrapping Alex's birthday present as the toilet flushed and I heard water running. Why am I in front of the bathroom? Because Alex is here and I needed to wrap this.

I stood up, poorly wrapped box containing present in hand, as Jack came out of the bathroom. "I can't believe you sing while you pee," I laughed.

"You talk to me while I pee," he defended. He looked down at the box in my hand, then back at me. "What did you get Alex?"

I shrugged. "GK hoodie he said he wanted a few days ago."

"Oh. Cool. Will you come with me when I go buy him something?"

"Your his best friend and you need help buying him a present?"

"He's the hardest person in the world to buy for!" Jack exclaimed, throwing his hands down at his sides. "Yes, I need help trying to decide what to get him!"

I chuckled and picked up the tape, scissors, and roll of wrapping paper. "Okay. I'll go with you."

I started walking back to the living room, but he stopped me when he said, "Hey, wait."

"What?" I turned around to face him.

He kissed me quickly. "Okay. That's all I wanted." He turned and started walking back to his room.

"No complaints here," I called after him, to which he chuckled.

I put up the tape, scissors, and wrapping paper, then set Alex's present on the kitchen counter. He grinned as I sat next to him on the couch. "That my birthday present?" I nodded and he smiled bigger. "What'dya get me?"

"You don't need to know yet."

"But, Sam!"

"But, Alex!"

Rian and Zack, who were sitting on the other side of Alex, shared looks. "But, Rian!" Zack said.

"But, Zack!" Rian said.

Alex rolled his eyes. "Please?" he asked.

"No." I shook my head.

"Please?"

"No."

"What'd you get me, Sam?" Rian asked.

"I haven't gotten you anything yet...maybe."

"Well, I feel unloved." He crossed his arms over his chest.

I was about to say something, but my phone started ringing. I pulled it out of my pocket, answered it, then placed it to my ear as Alex leaned over and started listening. "Hello?" I said, rolling my eyes at Alex.

"Hey...!" Kaylee said. Aiden, Kyle, Kaylee, their dad, Cindy, Aria, and Katie were all coming out here for the wedding. Plus Hey Monday, but they were coming in later today.

"What's up, girl?" Alex said. I giggled, putting my phone on speaker.

"Umm...Alex?"

"Yup. Good job, Kaylee."

"Hey, hey, we're here, too," Rian said.

"Okay, I don't know who that is," Kaylee said after a second.

"That would be Rian," I responded.

"Oh, cool. Hey, Rian."

"Hi, Kaylee!"

"Okay, okay, all other people distractions aside," Alex said, "why did you call?"

"Because we don't know where to go now that we are out here. We're renting a car, and Mom brought a GPS, but we need an address."

"That would come in handy," I said before naming off Jack's-well, I guess our-address.

"Kk, we'll be there soon," Kaylee said.

"Awesome!" I smiled. We hung up and I said, "I'm so excited!" the smile never leaving my face.

Alex, Rian, and Zack chuckled. "When was the last time you saw them?" Zack asked.

I thought a moment. "Probably March-ish. It was the Tennessee show of a tour." I shrugged then got up to go tell Jack. "Barakat!"

By the time he called back, "Future Barakat!" I was in the doorway of our room.

He smirked up at me and I rolled my eyes, but smiled. "What are you doing in here?" I asked, crossing my arms and leaning against the frame.

"Looking for my iPhone charger. Do you know where it's at?"

"I don't have an iPhone, so..." I cut off my thought and shrugged. He sighed and I said, "Oh!" Assuming he knew who I was talking about I continued with, "They're on their way here."

He raised an eyebrow, looking up at me. "Aiden and Kyle and...well, everyone?" he chuckled.

"Basically," I laughed, shrugging once again.

"They staying at a hotel?"

"Yup."

"That's cool. Fuck it! I give up!" I laughed and he walked over to me, shut the light off to his room, grabbed my hand, and pulled me back to the living room with him.

"A quickie?" Alex asked.

Jack and I shared a look that said, 'Really?' and Jack said, "Yes, that is exactly what happened." He dropped my hand and there was a knock on the door.

I grinned and jogged to the door, but it turned into a skip. Opening the door, I saw Kaylee. She breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Okay. I thought I got the wrong house."

"Kaylee!" I wrapped her in a tight hug.

"Sammy!" She said, hugging me back just as tight.

"I missed you!"

"Uh...yeah! Me, too!"

Aiden came up to the door then, a smirk on his face. "Hey, bride-to- be." I let go of Kaylee and hugged him just as tight. I let go of him after he told me he wanted to go inside.

Once he got in there I heard Alex say, "Aiden!" Aiden shut the door, per my wishes of keeping the cold air out of the warm house.

I looked back at Kaylee. "Everyone here?"

"Except Mom and Dad." A look of fear came over her face. "I don't even-"

"I get it," I held up a hand.

Two seconds later, Kyle, Katie, and Aria all walked up the steps to the house. "Samantha Alyson almost Barakat!" Kyle said. He pulled me into a hug, squeezing me and picking me up, only for a second.

I giggled and he set me down. "Hi, Kyle."

I hugged Aria, then Katie. Katie had black hair, like mine, eyes so blue they matched the sky, and skin so pale her hair and eyes popped out even more. Her hair fell just below her shoulders, a tattoo of a vine of red roses was along the left side of her neck, and she had side swept bangs. I don't mean to sound like a lesbian, (not that that's bad) but she was down-right gorgeous. She was kind of like Zack- didn't really talk unless she knew you well.

I shivered, which made me ask, "Should we go inside?" They all nodded and we walked inside. "Cold!" I went over to Jack, who was talking to Aiden, and hugged him tightly. "You're so warm."

"Jeez, you are cold." He hugged me back and I saw his eyes light up a little. "Hey, Kaylee, Aria, Kyle, and..."

"Katie," she finished, smiling at Jack.

"Kyle's girlfriend. Right, I remember." He smiled and probably would've hugged them had I not been in an attempt at getting warm.

Alex, Rian, and Zack were all looking over the couch at us, seeming mesmerized. "You guys alright there?" I asked, letting Jack go.

They all nodded, composing themselves and smiling. "So, where's your bathroom?" Katie asked.

"Down the hall, to the right," Jack answered. She nodded, walking off in that direction.

Once we heard a door shut, Alex looked at Kyle. He pointed in the direction Katie just walked off in. _"That's _your girlfriend?"

Kyle smiled and nodded. "She's hot, right?"

Aria, Kaylee, and I all shared looks as we rolled our eyes as Zack and Rian nodded, Jack smirked, and Alex replied, "That is the biggest understatement I've ever heard."

Kaylee was standing between me and Aria. Kaylee whispered, just so we could hear, "Why do they keep staring at us?"

I shrugged. Katie came back and Aria and her took the keys to the rental car to go get their hoodies. Kaylee went to the bathroom and Alex looked at me. "What the hell," he said simply.

"What?" I asked, completely clueless to what he meant.

"Is she eighteen yet?"

"Who? Kaylee?" Alex nodded. "Yeah, she turned eighteen in October. Why?"

"Just checking. Now I don't feel bad about looking at her ass."

Jack face-palmed, Aiden and Kyle glared at a now turned around Alex, and I shook my head. "Alex?" I asked.

"Yeah?"

"You have a girlfriend, don't hit on Kaylee. And Kyle and Aiden currently want to kick your ass."

"Oh, um, I'm sorry, guys. But your sister is very attractive." He half smiled. Aiden shook his head, a glare never leaving his face. Kyle's face softened, though. "So, are you guys going to introduce us when they come back in?" Alex asked that just as the front door opened again.

Aiden shrugged. "Yeah."

"Sooo..." Kyle started, "this is my girlfriend, Katie." Kyle introduced her to Alex, Rian, and Zack. Aiden did the same with Aria.

Fifteen minutes later, we were all scattered throughout the living room. Alex, Rian, and Zack didn't leave the couch and Kaylee sat next to Zack. Aria and Aiden sat next to the coffee table with Aiden's arm around her waist. Kyle and Katie were next to them, between the couch and the coffee table, and they were just holding hands. Jack and I were sitting in front of Kaylee and I had my arms around him with his arm around my shoulders.

Another knock on the door made Jack get up. "Cassadee!" he yelled when he got the door open.

"Jack!" she yelled back, followed by giggling.

Hellos and introductions were thrown around. Lisa showed up not thirty seconds after and shared a look with Cassadee before Cassadee said, "You guys are getting married in two days, right?"

"Yeah," Jack and I answered together.

"So, you don't want to be hungover the day of your wedding, right?" Kaylee asked.

"Oh, yeah, you can't legally drink yet," Jack said, poking my stomach.

"Yeah, smart one," I said, ruffling his hair. Jack pouted, so I kissed his cheek as Alex continued for Cassadee.

"Bachelor and Bachorlette parties. Tonight."

"Oh, gosh," I mumbled.

"And, I'm eighteen now, so I can go!" Kaylee said, grinning.

We all chuckled and Jack said, "I don't know how I feel about this."

I gave him a look. "I don't think you should worry about it."

"But what if you, like, fall in love with a male stripper, or something?"

I looked at every girl in the room as I said, "You guys are not getting me a male stripper."

"Why not?" Alex asked.

"My reasons are twofold," I held up one finger. "That's. So. Weird. Seriously, I don't know how you guys do it. That just seems like it would be totally awkward. Anyways," I held up a second finger, "I probably wouldn't do anything, but laugh at the person the entire time." Everyone either laughed or smirked. So I looked at Jack. "You go to a strip club all you want to, though. I'm okay with that."

"This one's a keeper, Jack." Zack patted my head.

"Well, yeah. I'm marrying her, are I not?" Jack said. He looked at me.

"I appreciate your trust and respect," he said before his lips placed against my temple.

"So, yeah. Bachelor and Bachelorette parties. To. Night." Alex grinned.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20: Last Day of the Unmarried Life**

**Sammy's POV**

"DUMBLEDORE DIES?"

Jack hesitated. "...yes."

"BUT WHAT ABOUT HOGWARTS?"

"Snape takes over."

"BUT SNAPE'S AN ASSHOLE!"

"Sammy, I think you should-"

I grabbed Jack's shoulders. "DO YOU HAVE THE LAST TWO MOVIES?"

He put his hands on my wrists, his eyes wide with amusement. "Alex does."

"Alex!"

He looked up from the fridge. "What?"

I jumped over the couch and walked over to him. I grabbed his forearms. "You have to let me borrow the last two Harry Potter movies!"

His eyes widened and he glanced from me to Jack multiple times. "Jack, I'm scared."

"Just say yes, Alex. It's easier that way."

Alex looked back at me. "Sure?"

"Yay!" I skipped back over to Jack and sat next to him again.

"You're about twelve years late on Harry Potter."

"Your point?" I raised an eyebrow.

He shrugged. "I have none."

"Sammy's behind on a lot of movies," Aiden said. He was sitting on the other side of me. "Saw, The Hangover, Austin Powers, Aladdin..."

"YOU'VE NEVER SEEN ALADDIN?" Jack looked at me with eyes wide and mouth agape.

I shook my head and Alex said, "You're dating Jack and you've never seen Aladdin?" as he came over to stand behind the couch. I shook my head again. "But he's Arab."

"He's cartoon hot," Aria said, crossing her arms. She was in front of Aiden on the floor.

"Jack is?" Alex asked.

"No. Aladdin is." She looked up at Alex.

"So, is Jasmine," Jack said.

"The princess in that movie?" I asked.

"Mmhmm." He nodded.

"As your Maid of Honor," Kaylee said, sitting on my lap, "and with Cassadee's help-because, let's be honest, I'm not twenty-one and have absolutely no idea where we could go-"

"Kaylee, what's your point?" I laughed as she wrapped her arms around my neck.

"We have everything planned out for this evening." She smiled triumphantly as I placed my arms around her waist.

"And, as your best friends," Zack started from the kitchen, "we have everything planned out for this evening."

"Organization," I joked.

"Hey, we got this!" Alex defended, then grinned. "Jack, you're gonna get sooooo wasted."

"Oh, yeah. And," Katie said as Kaylee stood up from my lap, "you're gonna need this." She wrapped a white, glittery boa around my neck from behind the couch.

Jack laughed and nodded. "Yes."

I looked down, examined the boa a little, then laughed. "Alright, I'll go with it."

"Remember that party lifestyle you used to live?" Cassadee asked.

I scoffed. "Not really."

She shook her head, laughing. "You know what I mean. That's gonna come in handy tonight."

"I don't like the sound of this," Jack mumbled.

"I take it I'm the designated driver?" Kaylee asked.

"We'll see," Katie winked.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Kaylee whispered, throwing her hands up a little in frustration.

I giggled and stood up, moving Jack's arm from around my shoulders. "What I'm wearing okay?"

"No." Aria shook her head, standing up as well. "But we can take care of that. Can I go through your closet?"

"Because I just have so many things to wear to a club," I replied sarcastically, walking around the couch and starting down the hallway.

"No one said we were going to a club." Aria, Katie, and Kaylee had followed me. I turned around to face Aria, an eyebrow raised. "Okay, fine. But we need to see your clothing selection."

I smirked and flipped on the light to our room then walked over to the closet. "It's clean," Kaylee said shocked.

"I live here. Of course it is," I said.

"That means nothing." She smirked.

"True." I opened the closet doors. "I cleaned it because I got tired of tripping over clothes," I said as I pulled the boa off of my neck, hanging it on the closet door handle.

Fifteen minutes later, I had an overnight bag packed because, apparently, we were staying at the same hotel tonight my-might as well call-family was staying at.

"You're wearing that boa," Aria said, picking it up and putting it in my bag. She zipped it up and put the strap over her shoulder then walked out of my room before I could say anything. I shrugged and we all followed after her. "Yo!" Aiden looked over at her. "We're leaving, babe." She pecked his lips and Jack looked over at me.

I walked over to him since he was still sitting on the couch. "Promise not to fall in love with a male stripper?"

"Do you know something I don't? I don't want a male stripper," I responded, looking over at Aria and Kaylee.

"Sure, sure, fine. We didn't get you one," Aria said, not convincing at all.

"Yet," Kaylee said, right after Aria said that last thing.

"I'll leave if you get me one," I said.

"We didn't get you one."

"Yet," Aria said, turning around and starting for the door. Kaylee followed.

"I'm serious, Aria," I said, starting to follow after her, but Jack grabbed my hand and that made me look back at him.

He was pouting, so I pecked his lips. "Hey, I'm not done." I rolled my eyes, hiding it with a blink, and kissed him again, deeper this time.

"Awww," Alex said.

I half smiled, rolling my eyes at him when I broke the kiss. I looked back at Jack, who still had my hand. I took his chin in my hand. "You need to calm down. Go to a strip club, get drunk, get a lap dance."

"I'd rather get one from you." He smirked.

"I wouldn't have any idea what I was doing, trust me," I laughed. I looked at Alex. "Make him calm down."

"We got this." He nodded.

"Sammy, come on!" Katie whined.

"I'm coming," I groaned. Kissing Jack's cheek, I skipped to the door.

"Wow, all you did was kiss Jack, Sam," Alex called, laughing.

I turned to glare at him, but Aria called back, "Guys will have more of a reason when Sam gives them lap dances tonight."

"WHAT?" Jack yelled.

"Aria's just bullshittin' you," Katie laughed, rolling her eyes.

"Let's go, chica!" She smacked my ass, making me squeal, jump, and blush as red as a fucking cherry.

"Don't do that!" I said, pulling open the door.

"You love it."

"I do not," I laughed.

"We love you, guys! Have fun!" Kyle yelled.

"Thanks, you, too!" I called back, letting the door fall shut behind me.

**XXXX**

The next morning I woke up feeling like my head got hit with a sledge hammer and Kaylee holding me like a vice next to her in the hotel room. I pried myself away from her, rolling my eyes because she fell asleep like that. I got tangled in the sheets in the process of standing up and ended up falling hard to the floor, my tangled foot still wrapped in the sheets and on the bed.

Kaylee lifted her head from the pillow and Aria and Katie sleepily walked over to the bed. Cassadee and Lisa were in another room. "Hungover?" Kaylee asked.

"More than you could ever know." I put my hand on my forehead and laid back against the cold floor. "Ow."

"I don't blame her." Aria flopped down on the bed and put her head in her hands. "I wonder how bad the guys are hungover."

"Probably just as bad." Katie sat next to Aria, between her and Kaylee.

"What the hell even happened? I'm drawing a blank," I said. I noticed this when I realized I was just in my bra and underwear that was slutty-ish, lacey, and dark red. "I didn't even know I owned a set of underwear like this."

"You didn't. We bought them for you before we came out here," Aria managed to say through a yawn. "Lots of dancing, lots of drinking."

"Oh, my gosh, I think I made out with someone. I don't even remember his name," Kaylee said, eyes wide.

"You did," Katie yawned. "Pretty heavily, too."

Kaylee laid back on the bed, hands over her face. "Why am I glad about that?"

"You're officially a partier," I said. "Don't let it get too bad. Shit hits the fan."

I yawned and took in everyone else's looks. Kaylee was still in her purple dress. Aria was still in her mini skirt, but her shirt was missing, leaving her with just a white bra. Katie still had her black dress on. Our make-up was smeared and our hair was a disheveled mess. I managed a laugh despite how much my head hurt. "We look ridiculous."

Every girl shared looks and started laughing themselves. Kaylee threw a pillow at me. "Put some clothes on, Sammy."

"No, I'm comfortable this way."

"Dear God, Jack's rubbing off on you."

I laughed, untangled my foot, and stood up. "Who gets first shower?"

Two hours later, all of us went back to the house where we found every guy passed out. Kyle and Aiden were cuddling on the floor behind the couch, Alex was curled up on the kitchen counter, Zack was in the middle of the floor between the kitchen and living room, and Rian was on the couch. I wondered where Patrick, Mike, and Alex L were because they went with them last night, too.

All of us stifled giggles as Aria took a picture of Aiden and Kyle. "Where's Jack?" she whispered.

Then it dawned on me he was missing. I shrugged, taking my over night bag and walking back to our room. I found Jack sleeping on the bed on his back in the clothes he wore last night. Shutting the door quietly behind me, I climbed onto the bed and onto him so I was straddling him. He groaned a little and I leaned down, starting to kiss his neck.

Not a minute later, I felt one of his hands on my hip and the other on my leg. "Good morning to you, too," he said.

"Hey." I kissed his lips then crossed my legs as I sat down on the bed next to him.

"No one said you had to stop." Jack smirked.

I shrugged then laid down next to him, curling into his side. "Have fun last night?"

"Mmhmm," he nodded, "did you?"

"Yes." I let my eyes close as I laid my head on his chest. "Hungover?"

"Surprisingly, no. What about you?"

"Yeah, but my headache's gone."

"That's good." He kissed me then sat up. "Sammy, we're getting married tomorrow!" I giggled. He leaned down and kissed me again. "I love you," he mumbled against my lips.

"Love you, too, Jack," I mumbled back before kissing him deeply.

**XXXX**

"Elliot from Blessthefall."

"I approve." I high-fived Kaylee.

So, it's about midnight. All of us girls, except Lisa since she's with Alex at his house, are in the living room scattered about. Cassadee and Katie are up against the couch, I'm between the couch and coffee table, and Katie and Aria are up against the coffee table. We're sitting in a circle, having a "girl talk" moment.

"He's really your celebrity crush?" Katie asked Kaylee.

She nodded, a blush creeping onto her cheeks. "He's cute."

"Kaylee!" Aria and I said together. It wasn't like her to say stuff like this.

Kaylee blushed a bright red and hid her face in her hands. "Stop it."

"It's adorable," Cassadee said with a grin.

"So, what about Christofer Drew?" Aria asked.

"7," Kaylee said.

"8," I said.

"Sounds about right," Katie agreed.

"We probably shouldn't talk about people like this," I pointed out.

Every other girl shrugged. "It's not like it's anything bad," Kaylee argued.

"Jordan from The Ready Set?" Katie asked.

"On a scale of one to ten..." Kaylee started.

"He's about a fifty," Aria said bluntly. We all laughed and Jack walked back from the bathroom.

"What'chu girls talkin' about?" he asked, a grin on his face.

"Nothing," We innocently replied in unison.

"That was really cool," he said before walking over to the fridge. "Oh, and I don't believe you," he added from behind the door.

"No one said you had to," I laughed.

"Meh meh meh meh meh." I rolled my eyes and he stuck his tongue out at me then half smiled. "Want me to leave?"

"Nah," Aria said, standing up while grabbing Kaylee and Katie's hands to pull them up with her, "we're gonna go anyways."

"Hey, you guys want a ride so you don't have to call Kyle or Aiden?" Cassadee asked, standing up as well.

"Yeah, sure. Thanks, Cass," Kaylee said.

We said goodbye and they left, which left just Jack and I.

Once the door closed, I took Jack's hand and walked back to our room, flopping down on the bed on my back. Jack laid next to me, a smile on his face that made me ask, "What's your deal?" I nudged him with my elbow.

He shook his head then put his hands over his face. "Sammy?"

I giggled and propped myself up on my elbow. "Yes?"

"We're getting married tomorrow."

"Technically today." I moved his hands, revealing his face as he clasped them around my own. I kissed his nose. "I'm excited!"

Jack laughed. "Me, too!" He pecked my lips then put his arms around me, pulling me down next to him. "You're gonna be mine forever." He buried his nose in my hair.

I blushed. "Don't say stuff like that." I rolled over onto my stomach, burying my face in my pillow.

"Why not?" he chuckled, moving and putting his arm around me.

"Because I blush."

He laughed again. "Isn't that a good thing?"

"Touché."

"You gonna sleep in jeans?"

"No. Are you?"

"Sleep in skinny jeans? Bad idea."

"Sleeping in regular jeans isn't so bad." I turned my head to look at him. "I don't wanna get up."

"Neither do I." He half smiled.

"Would your opinion of me change if I slept without pants on?" I asked, looking down at my jeans.

"That's hot, Sam," he said, rolling over onto his back.

Rolling my eyes, but smiling a little, I got up and turned the light off then took off my jeans before laying next to Jack. "Why are your legs so warm?" he asked while laughing, which was almost a giggle.

"Because I had pants on?" I smirked.

"Whatevs." He snaked his arms around me. "Got cold feet yet?"

"Naw, I'm pretty sure my feet are warm. You?"

"Nope." He popped his lips on the "p."

"'Kay, well, then go to sleep." I kissed him quickly.

"Mkay," he yawned. "Night, Sam."

"Night, Jack."


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21: Let's Do This**

**Sammy's POV**

"Are you guys going on a honeymoon?"

I looked up from my cereal with a blank look at Alex across from me on the bar stool. "I dunno." I poured milk into my bowl.

He grinned. "Want some help buying slutty clothes?"

"I don't even think lingerie counts as clothing." Capping the milk, I shook my head. "You know, I don't really understand the point in that stuff," I said as I put the milk back in the fridge.

"Why not?" Alex tilted his head to the left a little.

"It's just gonna get torn off anyways."

"Whoa, whoa," he chuckled, "I don't know about torn...though, I don't know how Jack..." he made air quotes, "'is', but I am a guy who has known Jack since high school, so I would be a good person to ask for help." He paused and squinted his eyes in thought. "That being said, it is Jack, and he'll get turned on by anything..."

Now there are several things I can say to this. 1) I can say something about him just wanting to see me in lingerie, 2) I can accept his help that I don't know if I'll need, or 3) I can add to my reasoning.

I decided to go with number three. "Let me ask you this," I started. "Wouldn't you rather see a girl naked anyways?"

He thought, hesitating. "Most of the time."

"I rest my case." I took a bite of cereal.

"It's really cool that you trust me enough to talk about this kinda thing with me. I admire that." Alex smiled.

I half smiled. "And I admire that you don't feel awkward when I'm blunt with you."

"That's friendship." We high-fived. "Where is Jack?" Alex asked.

"Sleeping," I said through a bite of cereal.

"Can I ask you two questions?"

"There's one."

"What?"

"Op, there's two. Looks like you can't." I smirked at a now shocked looking Alex.

"Wha- What did you jus- Whoa!" He blinked. "Mindfuck."

I laughed. "What was your questions?"

He shook his head, composing his thoughts. "Well, first one was are you excited?"

"Mmhmm," I nodded, failing at preventing my smile, "of course I am. Question two?"

"Who's your bridesmaids?"

"Kaylee's the maid of honor, the flower girl is their little cousin Stephanie, Cassadee, Katie, and Aria are the bridesmaids," I listed. "You're the best man," I said.

He smiled. "I am." I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. Alex looked at me quizzically.

"See, you're thinking something dirty, but that was my cell phone." I smirked, reading my text message.

"Oh. You had me confused for a moment."

I looked up at Alex. "I gotta go wake up Jack."

"Can I come with you?"

I shrugged. "I suppose."

I walked around the counter, Alex getting down from the stool as I did so. He started following me back to Jack's room. "Wait, wait," Alex said once we got to the door. I looked at him. "What if he's, like, naked, or something?"

"Are you asking discreetly if we did it last night?" I crossed my arms.

"What?" He shook his head. "No, Sammy. But that would be a good reason why he'd be naked."

"Come on." I rolled my eyes, opening the door to find a sound asleep Jack laying down on his stomach.

"You wake him up. I don't wanna get yelled at," Alex whispered.

I walked over to the bed and sat down next to Jack. Alex stayed by the door. "Jack. Jaaaack." I shook his shoulder. "Jaaack," I sang, shaking his shoulder again.

He groaned a bit and mumbled, "Mmm, Sammy?"

"You need to wake up, babe."

"I don't..." he trailed off and started breathing steadily again, telling me he was back to sleep.

I sighed and looked at Alex, who shrugged. Shifting my gaze back to Jack, I shook his shoulder again. When I got nothing, I kissed him. Still nothing. "Is he dreaming about you, or something? Because I feel like if I would've gotten kissed while asleep, I'd wake up," Alex said.

I shrugged. "I don't know what to do."

Just then Jack rolled over onto his side. "I'm gonna go eat something," Alex said before turning and walking back to the kitchen.

I laid down next to Jack and began kissing his neck. This always wakes him up. He stirred and breathed in deeply, telling me he was waking up. When his arms wrapped around me, I stopped kissing him. "You make it hard to think clearly," he said, kissing my forehead.

I smirked. "You need to wake up. It's ten and Aria is coming to get me."

"Sorry, I can't allow that due to the fact that I need you here for something."

I gave him a confused look. "What is that?"

He pressed his lips to mine in a kiss that had a bit of an edge to it. When he started pulling up my shirt, it clicked in my head. I stopped his hand and broke the kiss. "Alex is here."

He pouted. "So?" Then his face relaxed. "Never mind, I understand where you're coming from. Besides, we can do that tonight." He kissed my nose then winked at me.

Shaking my head while smiling a little, I curled into him, almost as a reflex. "Pervert."

"You love it, baby."

"I know."

"Hey, I probably should've asked this a long time ago, but are we going on a honeymoon?"

I shrugged a little. "I dunno. Do you want to?"

He shrugged also, but said, "Honestly?"

"Yes, please."

"Yeah. I guess it'd be kinda cool, wouldn't it?" Jack shrugged again. "I dunno. We can figure that out later. We don't have to go right after the wedding."

"True," I agreed right before Alex called from somewhere throughout the house.

"Are you guys fucking each other?"

Jack and I chuckled together and he called back, "No. I'm getting up!"

"Okay then! I just wanted to know if I needed to put in ear buds and blare the music."

Jack let go of me and slowly sat up. I followed suit, standing up with him. "Do you need to get dressed?" he asked.

I shook my head. "I'm gonna have to change into my dress...so, I wasn't going to."

"That's cool," he yawned.

I am going to freak the fuck out from the nerves in my stomach right now.

_**The Wedding**_

Cassadee was currently putting some light make-up on me. She got me white earrings to match my dress and even got me white studs for my lip rings. My dress wasn't your typical wedding dress. It went just past my knees, was only sort of poofy, and had a ribbon under the bust line that tied in the back. There was two straps that tied around my neck to keep it up as well, and was glittery...very glittery.

"And...done!" Cassadee said. "It's dress time."

My hair was mostly straight, a few curls here and there, and it was a fight to get it that way. My compromise was wearing make-up. It was a fight to get the short dress, too. That compromise was four inch heels. But I'm changing into flats at the reception whether people protest or not. I don't want my feet to despise me by the end of today.

The bridesmaids dresses were red, went just past the knees as well, and had a flower on the waist. They were strapless, too The skirt was flowy, like mine, and all of the girls pulled it off well.

Once I changed into my dress, Aria zipped it up and tied where things needed to be tied. I let my hair fall to my shoulders and turned around to face her. She stared at me a moment then said, "Dude, I'd be all over you right now if I was a lesbian." She crossed her arms and smirked.

Katie walked up and stood next to her. "Damn. If I looked half as good as you right now, I could walk on the red carpet and get noticed despite not being famous."

"Nice comparison," Kaylee said with a smirk. "You look hot, Sam." She smiled.

I took a deep, shaky breath and there was a knock on the door before I could reply. "Boobies or not, I'm coming in," Alex said, cracking the door before opening it completely. "Well, don't you ladies in red look stunning?" He smiled and the girls stepped aside for me. He cocked his head to the side. "You guys sure this is Sammy?" He walked over to me. "It looks like Sam," he sniffed my hair, "smells like Sam."

"Yes, Alex, it's me."

"And, talks like Sam." He smiled and hugged me. "You look good, sister- in-law."

"You, too, Gaskank," I said, hugging him back. He was wearing a suit with a blue tie. He let me go and I took another shaky, deep breath. "You wouldn't happen to have a shot of whiskey, or Jaeger, or tequila, or vodka, or something would you?"

"Noooo, but I can get you one."

"Mmhmm," I said, my voice going almost three octaves higher, and nodded. "Please."

Alex grinned. "Sam, calm down. You'll be fine. Jeez, I figured Jack would be the nervous one."

"Alex, just get me something before I back out of this."

"On it." He walked out of the room, only to be replaced by Kyle.

"Jesus Christ, you guys look awesome." He kissed Katie's cheek and I looked at him.

"Jack okay?"

"Yes. He's got a grin on his face so big I think it will break his jaw if he's not careful."

"Not on the wedding day," Cassadee said. She was all about making this perfect.

Alex came back with four shot glasses in his hands. "So, since I remembered you were a partier, I figured one shot of whiskey wouldn't work. How's two?"

"Smart dude," Kyle mumbled.

I took both shots then hugged Alex. "Thank you."

"No problem," he said before downing his two shots. I internally rolled my eyes. Any chance Alex gets to drink.

"And Jack's not having a break down?" Cassadee asked, an eyebrow raised.

Alex shook his head. "Who knew, right? He's grinning like a fool, though."

"That's what Kyle said," Kaylee threw in, pointing to Kyle.

"Okay, so," Cassadee started. "It's me and Rian, Aiden and Aria, Kyle and Katie, Zack's walking Kaylee, your guys' little cousin," she pointed to Kaylee and Kyle, "then Sam and your guys' dad, right?"

"I believe so," I said.

"Alright then. You ready?"

I nodded, hoping I sounded more convincing than I really was. "Let's do this."

Ten minutes later, I was about to walk down the aisle. I took Aiden, Kyle, and Kaylee's dad, Rick's, arm and waited as Little Stephanie threw flowers down the aisle. I didn't have a veil, so I would have a clear view of everything. My breath was shaking and caught in my throat more than once. This was it.

There are things you wish for before big moments. I wish more than anything my parents and sister were here. I wish I didn't fuck over so many people. And I wish someone could tell me I wasn't losing my mind for marrying at age twenty, and that my real family could tell me, "Hey, despite everything that happened, I'm proud of you."

I took another deep breath, pissed off that those thoughts popped into my mind now. Just when I was almost going to cry, Rick nudged me. "Hey."

I looked up at him. "Yeah?"

"I don't know if I can really tell you this, but I see you as one of my own children," he whispered. "Samantha Carter, I'm proud of you for never giving up on anything and holding on this far, for pushing through all of the hard times you went through. You got a hard head and can handle anything. And someday, you'll be doing this for your kids and you'll tell them the same thing, but, hopefully, for different reasons behind it."

I was totally taken aback and tears formed in my eyes. It wasn't my parents, but it was the next best thing to it. I hugged him, blinking back the tears and took his arm again after stepping back. "Thank you so much."

"It's nothing. Now let's do this mother."

I was having trouble stifling a laugh, but calmed down once the wedding march played, people stood up, and I started walking down the aisle, cursing myself and former partier ways because the whiskey shots didn't work.

Then I saw the look on Jack's face. When his eyes met mine, all feeling of nerves left and I knew I really wanted this. I smiled a little and he grinned in return. I got to the head of the aisle and stood in front of Jack. No turning back now, I thought. And I was completely okay with that.

The rings were put on our fingers and it was down to the considerably most important part. The words came easy and I smiled as I said them. "I do."

"Then by the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Jack dropped my hands that were in his and took my face in his hands, planting a sweet and gentle kiss on my lips that left me wanting more. I was twenty years old, almost twenty-one, and married.

Holy crap.

When we broke the kiss we were both smiling and Jack took my hand, lacing his fingers through my own. I looked around and saw Cindy bawling her eyes out, the bridesmaids grinning, Jack's mom crying, Alex smirking, and Rian and Zack high-fived. Mike, Patrick, and Alex L all had grins on their faces. I looked up at Jack to see him smiling down at me. He kissed my temple and then we walked down the aisle.

Holy fucking crap, I'm married.


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22: The Reception**

**Sammy's POV**

"Sooo, can I have everybody's attention?" Kyle's obnoxious self was the DJ at the reception. "I have the honor to introduce to you for the first time Mr. and Mrs. Jack Barakat."

People clapped and cheered as Jack and I walked out, hand in hand. On the way here, we had hardly said anything to each other. I think we were just kind of left in a daze. I knew I didn't want to come down from this happy. He kissed me and Kyle started playing a Lady GaGa song and people dispersed and started conversation. The first dance would come later.

The first person to walk up to us? Rian and Zack. "Sammy!" I couldn't turn around before Zack picked me up from behind and spun me around. I squealed and he set me down. "Or should I say, Mrs. Barakat?"

"That is so weird." I smiled and looked up at Jack, who nodded.

"But in the best way possible." He grabbed my hand again.

"So, congratulations, guys," Rian said, giving us both hugs at the same time.

"Thanks, bro," Jack said.

Arms wrapped loosely around my shoulders from behind me that I quickly realized belonged to Alex because he said, "Hey sister-in-law!"

I laughed, turning around to give him a proper hug. "Hey, brother-in-law."

Lisa stepped up and hugged me once Alex stepped back. "Congratulations." She pulled back. "Jeez, you're glowing." All I did was shrug, probably still smiling.

That was basically what the next thirty minutes consisted of. We went around, said hello to everyone, promised we'd be back later to talk, my feet hurt because I had yet to put on flats, and our first dance was next.

"Everyone, it's time for the bride and groom's first dance," Kyle said. Jack and I were on separate sides of what was made into a dance floor. We both walked to the center, my gaze trailing from the floor all the way to his face. The look in his eyes was enough to put another smile on my face. As the song started I wrapped my arms around his neck and laid my head on his shoulder. His arms went around my waist and he laid his head on mine.

After a moment, Jack kissed my cheek and whispered, "I love you," in my ear.

"I love you, too," I whispered back, happy tears forming in my eyes as he laid his head back on mine.

The song ended, and then it was time for toasts, and eating cake and the dinner that was served. We ate pasta, and Kaylee cut Jack and I each a piece of cake. When he wasn't looking, I picked up my piece of cake and shoved it in his face.

I giggled at his stunned expression and the cake all over his face. I took some off of his face with my finger and ate it, nodding in approval. The cake was good. "Oh, now you're gonna get it," he said, shoving his cake in my face.

I nodded, smiling. "Worth it."

He kissed me then licked cake off of my cheek. He nodded. "Not bad."

Ten minutes later, we were cleaned up and had new pieces of cake. At one side of the room, we had the bride and grooms table. This consisted of me, Kaylee, Aria, Katie, and Cassadee on my side. Jack was next to me with Alex, Rian, and Zack on his side. Alex clicked his fork against his glass of wine and stood up.

"Oh, shit," Jack mumbled, rubbing his forehead and chuckling softly.

"Here it comes," I laughed.

"I'd like to propose a toast," Alex said once everyone quieted down. Kyle brought him over the microphone from the DJ's stand. "Thank you," Alex said, taking the microphone. Kyle sat back down and Alex, being the obnoxious asshole he is, started parading around and saying a toast.

"Most of you are expecting me to get up here and cuss up a storm, and I make no promises that I won't. But I gotta be honest," he started, "I never thought Jack, out of all four of us," he turned and gestured to the band with his glass, "would get married first. But let's be honest, we all knew he was going to marry Sammy. Seriously, though," he started pacing around the room, "She makes Jack the happiest I've ever seen him." He turned back to the table. "And I'm surprised she can handle him so well. You got guts, kid."

People laughed and Alex continued, "You guys make an awesome couple. Mainly because Sammy is basically Jack with boobs and a vagina. Oops. There's kids here, sorry. Sammy is basically Jack with girl parts...and a better tolerance for alcohol." People laughed and 'Ohhh'd' and he turned back to the table once again. "Jack, you're my best friend, and Sammy, you're a pretty cool chick. I'm glad Jack found you. So!" He held up his glass. "Here's to those two lovely people over there!" Everyone took drinks of whatever they had and Alex added, "Oh! Tits and balls. Love you, guys!" Alex pointed to us, then gave the mic back to Kyle, who handed it to Kaylee.

Alex clapped Jack on the shoulder and Jack shook his head, laughing. "Fuck you, man."

"Love you, too, honey," Alex said.

I looked up at Alex. "Thanks, dude," I said. He grinned and made a heart at me with his hands before returning to his seat on the other side of Jack.

Kaylee stood up and started talking into the mic. "My turn? My turn. Alright, so I've known Sammy since I was in seventh grade. Granted, we didn't meet on the best terms, but we clicked fast." I fist bumped her. "Jack, I've known you since Sam's first tour. See? All of us got history here." People laughed. "Like Alex said, you guys do make a good couple. Actually, I don't think he could've said what I'm about to say any better." In response, Alex raised his glass to Kaylee. "And I don't think I've ever seen Sammy this happy...ever. I'm happy for both of you." She smiled and wiped away a nonexistent tear, which got more laughs. "So, here's to the bride and groom." We toasted again and Kaylee handed the microphone to Kyle before she sat back down.

"Thanks, sister-in-law," Jack said.

Kaylee smiled and I hugged her. "You're awesome."

Thirty minutes later I walked over to the table Cindy and Rick were at. "Hey, you two." I sat next to Cindy.

She smiled at me. "I can't believe your married!" I grinned and gave her a sideways hug. "Seems like just yesterday you showed up on our front porch with a bass in one hand and a duffle bag in the other."

I smirked. "It wasn't that long ago."

"I know." She took a drink of her water. "Don't waste your time with us. Go talk with your friends."

I smirked again, standing up and pushing the chair in. "Love you, guys." I kissed Cindy's cheek then Rick's before going off to find someone, but I didn't know who a minute later, I walked up to Aiden, who was sitting next to Katie. "Yo, dawg," I said, standing next to him.

"Hey, bro." Aiden smirked then said, "How's the married life?"

I laughed. "I've been married, what, an hour?"

He shrugged after checking the clock on the far wall above the DJ's stand. "Give or take a few minutes."

"Mmm," I hummed, nodding a little. "Get back to me in a few months." I ruffled his hair. He rolled his eyes, fixing it, then taking a drink of what I thought was wine. "Underage drinking." I pointed to his glass.

Aiden shrugged and Katie scoffed. "Says the girl who downed two whiskey shots before walking down the aisle." She raised an eyebrow.

I narrowed my eyes. "Touché," I said.

"You know what I think is awesome?" Aiden said, a slight grin forming on his face.

"What?" Katie and I said together.

He looked at me. "We all know you're gonna get laid tonight."

Katie burst out laughing and I blinked in surprise. After a couple seconds, I hugged him, which was slightly awkward since he was sitting. Chuckling myself, I added, "I love you, Aiden."

"Love ya, too, Sammy," he said just before Jack walked up and I let him go.

"How's it going, _Wife_?" he asked, smiling at me and wrapping his arms around me as he walked up behind me.

"That's gonna take some getting used to, _Husband_." I smirked up at him.

He smiled, kissing my cheek, then said, "You gotta throw your bouquet. Aim for Cass or Lisa."

I giggled, untangling myself from him, but grabbing his hand and pulling him with me over to Kyle. Kyle made an announcement for every girl to go to the dance floor. I picked up the bouquet of white, pink, and red roses. Moments later, I faced away from all of the girls, and threw the bouquet. When I heard different reactions from all around me, I spun around to see Lisa holding the bouquet, a look of shock on her face.

I broke out in a fit of giggles and looked over at Alex, who was standing next to Jack by Kyle at the DJ's stand. Kyle had a toothy grin spreading across his face as he looked at Alex. Alex, on the other hand, had eyes so wide they looked like they would pop out of his head. Jack cracked up laughing and I looked around for Rian and Zack.

I saw them to my left up against the wall. They were laughing, too, but Rian had a look on his face that I took as relief. I walked over to them, still in my fit of giggles. "Alex looks like he's going to have a panic attack," I said. They nodded, still laughing and I looked over at Lisa, who was now talking to Cassadee.

Alex pushed Jack and said probably something like, "Shut up, man!" Jack didn't stop laughing, though. Just held his hands up in surrender then walked over to me. He wrapped his arms around me from the side, all four of us over here still laughing at Alex's still stunned face. Lisa walked over to Alex, bouquet in hand. "This should be good," Jack said, all of us finally calming down a little.

Lisa and Alex were talking, Alex's face softening slowly but surely. A few moments later, they hugged and Lisa walked over to the table she was sitting at. Alex walked over to us, a smirk on his face and shaking his head. "If you were a guy, I would smack the shit out of you," he laughed, but almost nervously.

I shrugged, my smile spreading. "Catching a bouquet doesn't mean anything, Alex," I said.

Jack's arm tightened around me and he said, "But your reaction was the funniest thing I've seen in a while."

We all laughed, me putting my arms around Jack as well. "You're not gonna let this go anytime soon, are you?" Alex said. We all shook our heads, smiles on our faces. Alex sighed. "I bought a ring a few weeks ago," he confessed, taking a sudden interest in the wooden floor beneath us.

"WHAT?" we all said, eyes widening.

"Alex!" I slapped his chest.

"Propose already, dumbass!" Rian said. Zack nodded in agreement.

"I c- I don't- I can't- I didn't have the right moment yet," he said. "And I'm nearly petrified to ask her. Is this how you felt?" Alex looked at Jack, who nodded.

"Basically," Jack said. "But it all worked out. See?" he held up my hand with the wedding band on my finger.

I smirked, rolling my eyes and taking my hand back before looking at Alex again. "What reason would she have to say no?"

He shrugged. "I can't think of any, but I'm still scared."

"You got this," Zack said. Jack, Rian, and I nodded.

"Okay," Alex said after a moment of thinking. "I'll do it soon."

**XXXX**

The reception ended and neither Jack or I were drunk. The place didn't have an open bar, so we didn't buy a lot of drinks. I had kicked off my heels, though, failing to ever change into my flats.

As soon as I stepped onto the gravel driveway, Jack put an arm under my knees and the other was around my waist as he carried me into the house bridal style. "Is this really necessary?" I asked, my arms wrapping around his neck.

He kicked the door closed and smiled, pecking my forehead. "If anything, it's traditional."

He set me down next in the kitchen. I jumped up, sitting down on the counter behind me as he took off his shoes. Instead of going through the awkward, "Are we doing this?" stage, once he looked back up at me, I took his hands and pulled him close to me until his lips were on mine.

Our lips moved together softly in sync for a while. I wasn't ready for the kiss to end when he pulled back and whispered, "I love you," in my ear before planting kisses along my jaw and neck.

"I love you, too," I replied quietly. I let him kiss me until I could find the breath to whisper, "Come on," and I tugged on his shirt. Hoping he got the message, I fell off of the counter and to my feet. He took my hand and led me back to the bedroom, shutting the door behind him.

That night, I had fallen asleep in his arms. I was twenty years old, married, and wouldn't have anything any other way.


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23: Hold On Tight**

**Sammy's POV**

I woke up the next morning to kisses being planted along my shoulder and neck. I blinked a few times and rubbed my eyes then rolled over to face Jack. "Morning," he said, kissing my nose. All I did was smile and nod a little, pulling the covers up a little more. "Ready for your first day of married life!" he asked, sitting up a little and a grin spreading across his face.

I giggled, rolling over onto my back. "I guess so, _Husband_." I smirked.

I stretched as he got out of bed and put on boxers then sweatpants. Rubbing my eyes again, I noticed black on my fingers when I pulled them back, telling me I still had make-up on and that it was smeared. Jack looked at me and then chuckled. "You're make-up is messed up."

"That's what happens with sweat and sleeping," I said. Jack smirked and pulled a shirt over his head.

He flopped down on the bed, crossing his legs and poking my stomach. "Get up!"

I flinched and giggled, pushing his hand away. "Stop it."

"If you got up, I wouldn't tickle you." Jack kept poking me.

I giggled again, rolling completely over and out of his reach. "Don't do that." I pouted at him.

He scooted closer to me and started full on tickling me over the sheets. I laughed, a lot, and grabbed his wrists when I almost fell off of the bed. "Stop, I'm gonna fall."

"Oh, sorry," he said, taking his hands back. "Promise to get up?"

"If I can take a shower?"

"My permission never stopped you before," he laughed.

"Touché."

He scooted to the end of the bed and stood up. "Want food?"

"Eh, I can get something when I'm done. You go ahead, though."

"Alright."

I got up and felt a little less tired after my shower. After putting on blue basketball shorts and a black tank top and then brushing my hair, I picked up everything and walked out of the bathroom. Just as I was halfway down the hallway, I heard my name being called from the living room. Upon walking in there, I saw Alex and Zack, but no Jack.

"Hi, Mrs. Barakat!" Alex said, both of them waving at me.

"Uh...hey?" I stayed in the walkway of the hallway and the living room. "Where's Jack?"

Alex shrugged. "He went to his room, or something. We showed up about twenty minutes ago because we're making you come to my house." Zack nodded for emphasis and Alex added, "Oh, and please invite everyone. We plan on playing Just Dance on the Kinect."

"Alright." I turned and walked back to our room, walking through the door just as Jack was pulling on skinny jeans.

"Hey," he said, reaching for a JAGK shirt on the bed.

"Hi." I put everything away and got jeans out of the closet for myself, as well as a black long sleeved shirt that I pulled over my head. Jack looked at me, so I raised an eyebrow. "What? Do I have something on me?" I started to examine myself.

"No, no." Jack shook his head. "I just noticed you changed your lip rings."

I felt the studs on the inside of my lip out of habit then shrugged. "Yeah, I put the black ones back in." I pulled off my shorts and stepped into jeans, pretty glad I decided to not wear skinny ones because I didn't want to fight them. "I think my feet still hurt from heels yesterday," I said as I picked up my Converse and got some socks out.

Jack chuckled as I sat down on the bed to put on my shoes. "Man, I'm glad I never have to wear those."

"And I'm glad I didn't fall in them yesterday." I tied both of my shoes, then grabbed my phone. I looked up at Jack. "What about the heels you wore in the 'I Feel Like Dancin'' video?"

"Damn it, I forgot about that," he said, laughing a bit.

I shook my head, smiling. "Ready?" I asked. He nodded and I took his hand, leading him back to the living room. Then we left.

**XXXX**

Once leaving Alex's house, we got back here around midnight, mainly because my friends/family had to go home and we said goodbye. I was feeling kind of bummed when Jack sat next to me on the couch. He looked at me hesitantly, so I pulled my legs to my chest and asked him, "What's up?" He hesitated again, so I poked his arm.

"Can I confess something?" he finally said. I nodded. "I guess- I mean," he sighed, running his fingers through his hair. "I don't want you to get mad." He looked down at his lap.

I fixed his now messed up hair. "I'm not gonna say I won't get mad because I don't know how I'll take it, but just tell me." Making him look at me, I held his chin up with my fingers. "I'm sure I'll get over it if it makes me mad."

What I said must have reassured Jack because he took my hand from his face and held it his own, playing with my fingers, but not looking up at me. "Remember when you thought you were pregnant about two years ago?"

I blinked at him. "Jack, I thought I was pregnant. How could I forget that?"

He smirked. "I just wanted to be sure."

"Alright," I said, "but what about it?"

"Is it bad that a part of me wished you were?"

I don't know what I expected, but that sure as hell wasn't it. But then I thought about what he said and realized I sort of wished I was, too. "No." I shook my head. "Because I sorta did, too." He looked up at me. "But the part of me that was nineteen, in a band, and not married made me not want to be." I smirked.

He smirked, too, and let go of my hand, just to stare at his in his lap. "Now I feel like you're not gonna let me touch you again because you think I'm gonna try to get you pregnant," he told me quietly, laughing almost out of embarrassment.

"What?" I laughed. Shaking my head, I swung one of my legs over his lap, straddling him. He looked up at me, smiling sheepishly. "Would I do this if I thought you were going to try to get me pregnant?" He shrugged. "And not that I would know or anything, but I'm pretty sure I could..." I made a hand motion towards my middle, "tell." He laughed, understanding what I meant, then took my hands and began playing with my fingers again.

"So, you don't think I'm trying to put a baby in this?" he poked my stomach.

I smirked again. "You're just being-"

"Silly?" Jack asked.

"I was gonna say ridiculous, but that works, too." I smiled. "What brought all of this up?"

He's still playing with my hands, not meeting my eyes when he asked, "Do you want kids?"

"Do you?" I asked, playing with his hands in response to him playing with mine.

"Do you?" he pressed.

"I'll answer when you answer."

"I'll answer when you answer."

I looked up and his gaze eventually met mine. "We'll say our answers together, alright?"

Jack nodded. "Deal."

"Ready? On three, 'kay?"

He nodded again. "One..."

"Two..."

"Three..." We both said together before we fell silent.

We both laughed and I stopped his hands, clutching them both in mine. "Okay, seriously, we have to say our answers," I said, entwining our fingers.

"Okay."

"Promise?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Cross my heart." He literally drew an X over his heart with his finger, never letting go of my hand.

"Okay. One..."

"Two..."

"Three! Yes," we both said, following by us both sighing in relief.

"I thought you wouldn't," I confessed, resting my forehead against his shoulder for a second.

Looking back up, he half smiled at me. "I felt the same about you. But I don't wanna be a dad yet." His eyes widened slightly.

"Agreed. I don't wanna be a mom yet, either."

It's silent for a moment, and Jack's messing with my fingers again. He still seems uneasy about the conversation we were having when he asked, "So, do you wanna go on a honeymoon?"

I shrugged. "Where would we go?" I leaned in and started kissing his neck.

His breathing quickened a little and he said, and I could tell with a smirk, "Sammy, I can only really think about one thing right now."

I giggled, leaning back from him. "I feel like the cliché place to go is Hawaii."

"Well, we've already been pretty cliché. Wedding at a church, reception, throwing the bouquet, the toasts, me carrying you into the house, sex on the wedding night, and now we're going on a honeymoon." He shrugged. "Might as well keep the list of clichés going."

I nodded. "So, we're going to Hawaii?"

Jack shrugged again. "Looks like it. We have to look at flights."

"One thing first."

He gave me a confused look. "What?"

I kissed him then moved off of his lap and sat next to him. "That's all."

He slung an arm over my shoulders. "You're cute."

"Thanks. So, are you," I replied, smiling and leaning my head onto his shoulder. I grabbed his free hand, lacing it with my own.

"When do you wanna leave?"

I shrugged. "I dunno. Do we want to be back for Alex's birthday?"

"If we're not, he'll never let us live it down," Jack said.

I sighed a bit. "Then I guess we should go soon and get back before his birthday. What does that leave us?"

"Well, you figure we have one day to get flights and pack. If we leave the day after tomorrow, we'll have about a week."

I shrugged again. "Sounds like a plan. Look at you being efficient," I teased, grinning and poking his stomach.

"And look at you being my wife. Sammy, you're my wife!"

I laughed and added, "And you're my husband!"

"Can I just say, when I first met seventeen year old you, I never thought I would be married to you three years later."

"When I first heard an All Time Low song I never thought I'd be married to the guitarist. I just thought you were cute," I laughed.

"Psh! You thought I was sexy!"

"Have you ever heard me call anybody that? Ever?"

He shook his head. "Nope. Not even me." He pouted.

"Hey." I poked his stomach, making him look down at me. "You're sexy."

"See!" He grinned. "You thought I was sexy!"

I giggled and shook my head, pulling my legs up onto the couch and to my chest. "Don't twist my words around."

"Wasn't trying to. You know it's true."

"I thought Alex was hotter," I teased.

"Yeah, Alex is pretty hot..." he played along, then smirked at me before kissing my nose. I crinkled my nose before yawning. "Wanna go to bed?"

"Just a little," I said quietly. He removed his arm from my shoulders then stood up, pulling me with him by my hand that was still clenched with his.

"C'mon, let's go to sleep."

"Mkay," I mumbled, following him back to our room.


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24: New Years**

**Sammy's POV**

"Yeah, just walk right in. The door's unlocked. Okay. See ya."

Jack slipped his phone back into his pocket, ending the conversation with whoever he was talking to, as he walked into our room. He fell onto the bed on his back, but his legs were hanging over the end. I was sitting next to him and he looked up at me. "You know what I like best about living with you?" he asked, smiling at me.

_Hmmm, be a smart ass, don't be a smart ass? What to do, what to do..._

I picked be one. (Surprise, surprise).

Smirking and crossing my legs, I said, "What, that you can sleep with me more?"

His face fell. "Noooo. Well, okay, that's number two." He shook his head. "But that's not important at the moment. Number one is that I can open the bathroom cabinet and not be overwhelmed with tampons."

I laughed, putting my face in my hands. "That's because I put them behind everything out of habit." I looked up, still smiling. "Aiden and Kyle got freaked out and they told me they were afraid of the bathroom. So I started hiding them." I shrugged.

"Oh." Jack looked like he was in deep thought. "I was sort of confused why I never saw them because, I mean, you are a girl and you have a period so I was pretty much thinking, 'What does she do?'"

"Jack," I blinked at him, "I don't think you want me to explain that."

He shook his head. "Not really. Alex, Rian, and Zack are coming over."

"That's cool."

Jack sat up. "Way to sound enthusiastic."

I shrugged. "I feel like we haven't been over to Alex and Rian's in a while."

"That's because we haven't." This was when he kissed me. No complaints here about random kisses. He put his hands on my waist and I wrapped my arms around his neck.

"Alex, I don't know if we should've just walked in," We heard Zack say. Jack and I separated and we both looked out the door to his room.

"Why not? Jack said to just walk right in," Alex said.

"But, dude, they just got married. They've probably been doing nothing, but each other."

"It wouldn't be the first time we walked in on Jack."

I raised an eyebrow at Jack. He blushed, slid his arms around my waist, and hid his face in my neck.

"But it would be the first time we walked in on Jack and Sammy," Rian countered.

"Only one way to tell," Alex said.

I heard the echo of footsteps and then all three guys appeared in the doorway.

"See? We walked in on them. What did I tell you?" Zack said before he started to push the other two guys away from the door.

I giggled. "No, you didn't. You just embarrassed Jack." Said person whimpered quietly and nuzzled his nose against my neck.

"Ohhh," all three guys in the doorway said. They walked away and Jack unwrapped his arms from me and lifted his head.

I stood up and was walking out, but Jack slipped his hand in mine to make me turn back to him. "Are you mad?" he asked.

I knit my eyebrows. "Why would I be mad? Jack, I know you've been with other people besides me. Come on now." I smiled and ruffled his hair then walked into the living room. Sitting next to Alex, I said, "Hey."

Oh, yeah. I guess I should say it's the day before New Years Eve.

"Hi, Sammy," the three other band members chorused together.

I blinked in surprise. "That was awesome."

Jack came out then and stood next to the couch by me. "You know, when they walked in, I wasn't done." He took my face in his hands and kissed me, which made everyone else go, "Awwww!"

When Jack pulled back, he smirked and walked into the kitchen. I blushed brightly, folded my arms on the arm rest and hid my face. Alex, Zack, and Rian were still gushing and laughing over that. "Stop it," I whined, but it was muffled. I looked up and over the couch at Jack. "Why did you do that?"

"I had to be embarrassed, you did, too. Now we're even."

I stuck my tongue out at him then grabbed the TV remote, going through the guide. "Really? The Ravens are playing and you're not watching the game?" I asked.

All of the guys heads perked up as they all said, "What?" Then a chorus of "Change the channel," and the like filled the room.

"Guys! Chill the fuck out. I'm changing it," I said before doing so. Jack walked into the living room, grabbed my hand, pulled me off of the couch, sat down, then pulled me onto his lap. Is it bad that I slightly fear for my life right now?

"I won't hurt you, I promise," Jack reassured, kissing my nose. I blinked in surprise again. How the fuck did he know what I was thinking? "We've been together two and a half years. I know how your mind works. Right now you feel overexposed because of your shorts." He gestured to my legs.

"Are you some kind of wizard?" I asked.

"No. I just know how you think." He kissed my nose then began kissing my neck, but stopped and looked at the TV when Alex yelled at the football game.

"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME, REF? THAT WAS A BULLSHIT CALL!"

I laughed and stood up from Jack's lap then walked back to the kitchen. "Where're you going?" Jack asked.

"I got thirsty," I said.

"This reminds me," Alex started as the game went to a commercial, "Sammy needs a Ravens jersey."

I scoffed while I was fixing myself a glass of water. "Nah, I'm good. I'm not a Ravens fan."

"WHAT?" Alex, Zack, and Rian all said together. I turned to see them all staring at me, eyes wide, over the couch.

"You married Jack, and you're not a Ravens fan?" Zack said, raising an eyebrow. Then he looked at Jack. "Sell out."

"I'm from Tennessee, Zack. I'm a Titans fan."

"No." Rian said simply and shook his head.

"What do you mean, 'no'?" I laughed.

"I mean that because you are married to Jack, by default, you are now a Ravens fan."

I shook my head. "No."

"Okay, well, the Titans aren't even gonna make it to the playoffs, so," Alex said, "now by default, you are a Ravens fan."

"Deal," I said, walking back into the living room.

_**The Next Day**_

"Alexxxx, where do you want me to put this?" I whined, holding a bowl of chips in my hand.

He chuckled. "Just put it on the table, Sammy." I set the bowl of chips down on the table, getting ready for Alex and Rian's New Years party. "Oh, and this, too." He handed me a bowl of pretzels. I set that bowl down then jumped up so I was sitting on the counter. "So, do you plan on getting drunk tonight? Because I do."

I shrugged, beginning to swing my legs. "Probably not. Someone's gotta drive that one home." I pointed over my shoulder at Jack, who was in the living room.

Alex shrugged. "We do have a guest room. You could stay the night."

"But last New Years, and the one before that, Jack pretty much tried to have sex with me in the car, but he passed out as soon as we got home."

Alex blinked a few times and shook his head then chuckled. "Sounds like Jack." He turned back to me after getting another bowl out of the cabinet. "Whatever. That bed's open if you just wanna stay here."

"Thanks, Alex." I ruffled his hair.

He frowned then tried to fix it. "Damn it, Sammy. I just got that fixed the right way."

I sighed. "Come here." I fixed his hair, earning a smile from him.

"Thanks," he said then got a scared look on his face. "You sure it looks good?"

I laughed, but nodded. "Like I never touched it."

"Awesome. Damn it." He dropped a chip. "Baz!" Sebastian came running. Alex pointed at the chip on the floor, to which Baz ate. "Best part about having dogs is that right there."

I nodded. "True story." Baz licked my foot, making me giggle. "Where's Peyton?"

"Outside." He pointed to the back door. "Which reminds me, I should let him in." Alex went to the door, let the other dog in, dried the dog's feet since it was snowing, and then jumped up to sit next to me.

"I like your dogs," I said as his dogs started playing together and we watched.

"My dogs like you."

"That's cool."

"Sammy!"

Alex and I both looked over at Jack, who was walking over to us. "Yes?" I said once he was in front of both me and Alex.

Jack pushed himself up onto the opposite counter. "I'm bored!" he whined.

"Hey, Sam," I looked over at Alex and he continued, "Can you still do all those flips and shit?"

I shrugged after thinking a second. "No idea."

Alex raised an eyebrow at me. "Pun intended?"

After thinking another second, I smirked and shook my head. "No. But I was serious. I don't know if I still can."

"So, you should try."

I looked around, trying to see if there was a suitable place. After a moment, I fell off of the counter and to my feet before walking over to a hallway. I attempted a flip, hurting my wrist a little and landing a little wobbly, but, for the most part, I had it down. I shrugged and took my place back on the counter next to Alex.

Said person stared at me a moment then his gaze shifted to Jack. "I have questions for you later," Alex said.

"Alright then," Jack agreed.

Figuring Jack would either tell me later or that I didn't want to know what those questions were, I didn't say anything in response. I just rubbed my wrist. "Did you hurt your wrist?" Alex asked.

"A little," I replied. "I should be okay, though."

"You sure? You can have some ice, or something."

"Nah, I'll be fine."

"Are you pregnant?"

"What?"

"Huh?" Jack asked, blinking in surprise. Heck, I didn't blame him. I was completely taken aback and confused.

"Are you pregnant?" Alex asked again.

"No, I'm not pregnant," I answered.

"You sure?"

"Pretty sure, yeah."

"How sure?"

"I'm pretty confident in saying I'm not pregnant."

"Okay. Just checking." Alex jumped down from the counter and walked over to the fridge.

I looked at Jack, who looked just as confused as I was. "What the hell was that, Alex?" he said.

Alex shrugged and I added, "I just did a fucking flip, and you asked if I was pregnant?"

"I didn't know!" Alex defended.

"I don't think Sammy would willingly do that with a child inside of her," Jack pointed out.

"Oh, yeah..." Alex mumbled, jumping back onto the counter next to me, except this time he had a Coke in his hands. "I wanted to know if she was pregnant."

I shook my head, falling from the counter to my feet and going into the living room. Rian was now sitting in there, so I sat next to him. "Hey."

"Hi, Sam." He smiled.

"What are you watching?"

"That 70s Show, duh." A minute passed, but he asked, with a look in his eyes, "Will you go get me something to drink?"

I gave him a look, but said in a tired voice, "What do you want?"

"Beer, please." He grinned at me.

Sighing, I got up and went into the kitchen, where Alex was now sitting next to Jack on the counter. They were talking quietly, but stopped as soon as I was in ear shot. Opening the fridge, I said, "Don't stop on my account." They just stared at me as I got a beer out of the fridge then went back over to the couch and gave it to Rian.

"Thank you," He smiled.

"No problem." I sat next to him again.

_**The Morning After**_

Hangovers make drinking almost not worth it. Almost.

I stretched and took in my surroundings, feeling a little relieved when I could remember most of last night, had all of my clothes on, and was on the bed in Alex and Rian's guest room. I got up slowly, attempting to ignore the throbbing in head as I walked across the hall to the bathroom.

I did what I needed to do, (no details necessary, I take it?) and slowly made my way downstairs. Saying their house is a mess was an understatement. Cups and trash were EVERYWHERE. I cleared a space on the couch for me and sat next to Rian, who had his head in his hands.

"Why do I keep doing this?" he asked.

"Because it's fun, at the time," I said, bluntly.

Alex was passed out on the floor, Zack passed out on the other couch. Jack was still upstairs asleep.

Alex grunted and slowly sat up against the couch, rubbing his eyes. "What. The fuck," he said, blinking hard.

Rian leaned back and smirked. "Happy New Year."

"Yup." I popped my lips on the 'p'.

_**Two Days Later**_

"Sammy! You're twenty-one today! Wakey shakey!"

I groaned and rolled over onto my stomach. "No."

"But you can legally drink now!" Jack said.

This was true. "So? I'm sleeping."

"No, you're not. You are awake."

"Jack, you're more excited about my birthday than I am."

"Sammy, just wake up!" he groaned. I opened my eyes just as he laid down next to me. "I'll knock you off the bed," he threatened.

"No, you won't."

"Wanna bet?"

"No," I giggled. He probably would push me off of the bed. All in good fun, though.

"Then get up." He kissed my lips.

I pouted at him when he pulled back. "I wasn't done."

He chuckled, kissing me again. I pulled back first this time and then cuddled into him. "Sammy, you gotta get up."

"No, I don't."

"What if I told you it was noon?"

"Is it?"

"Don't answer my question with a question."

"Too late."

"Please just get up."

"If I walk out there, am I going to get tackled in hugs by Alex?"

"I make absolutely no promises."

"Okay." I sighed and scooted back from him, just to rub my eyes and sit up.

Jack rolled off of the bed and stood up. I yawned and he smirked. "That's an attractive yawning face."

"Thanks." I smirked and climbed out of bed, walking to the bathroom.

After taking care of that problem, I went into the living room where, sure enough, Alex attacked me in a hug. "Happy birthday, Sammy!"

I laughed, hugging him back. "Thank you."

He let me go and I went over to the couch where Zack and Rian were, sitting next to Rian. They shared looks then looked at me. "It's...your...birthday song! It isn't very long. Hey!" they sang together.

I laughed. "That was awesome."

"Happy birthday, Sam," Rian said, giving me a one armed hug.

"Happy twenty-first birthday," Zack said.

"Shit's goin' down tonight," Alex said.

"You have it all planned out?" I asked.

"Yes," everyone answered together.

"Yay," I said, not really enthusiastic.

Alex was about to say something, but my phone started ringing. Getting up and getting my phone off of the kitchen counter, I said through a yawn, "It's probably Aiden, or Kyle, or Kaylee," because Jack looked confused.

Only then had I noticed Jack had my phone in his hand. "No. It's an unknown number."

He handed my phone to me, to which I saw it was just a random number. I wasn't going to answer it, but something told me to. "Hello?"

"Sammy?"

I hesitated, not recognizing the voice, but knowing I had heard it somewhere before. "Yeah?" I replied, pushing myself up onto the bar stool behind me. I yawned again and sniffed as I waited for the other person to answer.

"It's Chelsea."

My heart seemed to have stopped as it finally occurred to me that I was talking to my sister. My breath caught in my throat, but I managed to choke out, "Whoa."


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25: Turning 21 is Not Really a Bitch to Go Through**

**Sammy's POV**

And that's when I got pissed off, but it was washed over by a wave of confusion. WHAT THE HELL?

"Hi," Chelsea said through the phone hesitantly.

"Um...hey?" I said, not really sure how to respond.

"You're confused."

Huh. Still knows me even though I haven't talked to her in over five years.

"That's an understatement."

She chuckled, just like we were old friends. "I don't know what I'm doing either."

"How did you even get my phone number?" I questioned, the attitude that was hidden behind confusion coming out.

I could practically picture her shrug, which was an inaccurate image considering I haven't seen her since I was fifteen and don't know if she looks any different. "You're phone number hasn't changed since you got kicked out," she replied. This was true. I just got my own account and switched phones.

I then noticed all of the guys were staring at me with a lot of confusion on their faces. I shrugged at them and started talking to my sister again.

Whoa. Mind fuck. Never thought I'd say (think?) that again.

"So, what'd you want?" I asked, dropping the iciness in my tone, but I was still on edge about this.

Honestly, I was more concerned that I was talking to my sister. I WAS TALKING TO MY SISTER! I never thought I'd hear from her again when I got kicked out. She was just as disappointed in me as my parents were. Granted, she always supported me with whatever I set my mind to, but why was she talking to me now? We were about a year and a half apart, but we still went to the same school, and she didn't even talk to me then.

But, I'm talking to my S-I-S-T-E-R!

"Well..." she hesitated then sighed. "I just don't want to keep pretending you don't exist."

I blinked. "No, really, what is it?"

"I'm serious. But I don't want to talk about this on the phone. Do you still live in Tennessee?"

Ten minutes later, I set my phone down on the kitchen counter and looked at Jack, who was now sitting in front of me. "What the fuck just happened?" I asked.

"You tell me," he chuckled. "Who was that?"

"My sister."

Jack blinked at me as Alex walked over to stand on the other side of the counter. "No, really, who was it?" he asked.

I shrugged. "My sister."

Alex looked at Jack as Zack and Rian made their way in here. "I thought she didn't talk to her sister?" Alex asked Jack.

Jack shrugged. "I thought she didn't either. I don't know wh-"

"Guys, I'm right here," I laughed.

Jack smirked and took both of my hands, starting to play with my fingers, as Rian asked, "So, what did she want?"

I shrugged again. "To make things better." They looked at me-except Jack, who just kept playing with my hands-telling me I should continue. "I told her I'd call her back because I don't know what to do. What the fuck do I do? I haven't talked to her since I was fifteen."

"Do you want to talk to her?" Jack asked, never looking up.

"Jack, I wanna redo ages thirteen through sixteen."

He pouted and looked up. "But you wouldn't have met me if you did."

"Guys, mushy love scene later," Alex said before looking at me. "So, if you want to talk to her, then do it." He shrugged. "You're twenty-one now, and she's..."

"Almost twenty-three," I finished for him.

"Right." He shrugged again. "Maybe she's changed."

I considered this then nudged Jack in the stomach a little. "Why can't you give me advice like he can?" I asked playfully.

Jack smirked and held up my hands that he was still playing with. "Because I'm too entertained."

"You know, if you have a mind like mine," Alex started, "that could be taken as something dirty." He reached over the counter and tapped Jack's nose. "You might wanna watch what you say."

"Way to be creepy, Alex," I called after him as he went back over to the couch, Zack and Rian following him.

"You know it," he called back.

I looked at Jack, who was still playing with my hands. "Are you having fun with that?"

"Mmhmm." He nodded, snickering a little.

I sighed. "Jack, what do I do?"

"About your sister?" He looked up at me then shrugged. "I guess if you want to talk to her again, or try to, you should."

I smirked and took my hands from his to pick up my phone. I texted my sister, telling her I'd meet up with her. She replied, saying she'd call me later, and I set my phone down. I looked up at Jack, who slowly grinned at me.

"Sammy, you're twenty-one today!" he exclaimed. I laughed and Alex, Rian, and Zack all cheered a little.

**XXXX**

At around seven that night, I was getting out of the shower. I plugged in Jack's straightener that I was going to use no matter what he said and wrapped the towel even tighter around me. I opened the door just to see Jack with his hand on the doorknob.

"Hey there," he grinned and wiggled an eyebrow.

"Go take a shower." I pushed past him and began walking back to our room, but Jack tried to pull the towel off of me from behind. "No!" I gripped the towel tighter then stuck my tongue out at Jack's grinning face.

Seconds later, I stood in front of the closet, blank on what to wear. I raised an eyebrow and studied my clothes, then sighed when I had no idea what to wear. Giving up and figuring I'd find clothes later, I put on underwear and basketball shorts and a t-shirt, then walked back to the bathroom. I must've spent a long time staring blankly at the closet because when I got to the bathroom, Jack was already out of the shower.

I leaned against the door frame. "I don't know what to wear."

"Clothes would be a good start," he replied, running a comb through his hair and turning to face me. "Or you don't have to. You'd probably get a lot of free drinks."

I considered this. "True."

"Don't consider that." He set the comb down and wrapped his arms around me in a hug. "Only I'm allowed to see you naked."

"Aw, you're jealous," I teased, hugging him back.

"I'm not jealous. I just don't want other people seeing you without clothes on."

"Then you should tell me what to wear because I don't know."

"You're going to a club, Sammy," he pulled back from me, "it shouldn't be that hard to figure out."

"Why does club attire mean slutty?"

Jack shrugged. "I don't know. I'm not a girl. You don't have to wear something slutty."

"Mkay." I rubbed my eyes and walked out of the bathroom.

"But it would be really cool if you did!" Jack called after me.

"I'm sure it would," I called back sarcastically.

Approximately one hour later, we were sitting in the car, going to Alex and Rian's house. I had a black dress on that went down to mid-thigh and had spaghetti straps. Jack was wearing black skinny jeans, a JAGK shirt, and a leather jacket.

"Ugh, I just-" I cut off and gestured to my dress then crossed my arms over my chest. "I feel overexposed."

Jack chuckled and stopped at a red light. "Would you stop it? You don't look like a slut. You look great, and I am going to be a very jealous husband tonight."

I smirked. "Thanks, Jack. You look pretty good yourself."

He smiled. "Thank you."

"Your driving's improving."

He glared at me a second then mumbled, "Shut up," to which I giggled at.

Ten minutes later, I was following Jack into Alex and Rian's house. Rian looked up from the kitchen counter then called out, "Alex, hurry up!"

"Hey, it takes time to look this gorgeous!" he called back.

I shook my head and pushed myself up onto the counter behind me. "He takes so long," Rian said.

I spaced out for their conversation, only coming to my senses when I heard my name and Cassadee snapping her fingers in front of my face. "Sam. Sammy!"

I blinked and shook my head before giving her my full attention. Then I finally realized it was Cassadee. "Cassadee!" I said, jumping down and hugging her.

She giggled, hugging me back. "Hi, Sammy. Happy birthday."

"Thanks."

She disappeared down a hallway and I sat back down on the counter. A second later, Cassadee reappeared in front of me. I looked at her, question in my eyes. Silently, she held up a pair of black heels.

I shook my head. "No."

She nodded. "Yes."

Shaking my head again, I said, "No."

"Yes." She nodded again.

"No."

"Oh, yes."

"I'm not wearing those."

"Yes, you are." Jack came up and stood next to Cassadee. He shrugged. "They match your dress."

"So, this is why you wanted me to wear Converse?" I asked him then looked at Cassadee. "I was gonna wear flats."

"You would've had to change your shoes anyways," Jack said.

I was about to protest again, but Cassadee pulled off my Converse and socks then put on the heels. "Yup." She smiled triumphantly. "We're the same shoe size."

I sighed, looking down at the six inches of black death on my feet. "I hate you guys."

Jack and Cass both smiled. Cassadee put an arm around my shoulders and Jack kissed my cheek. "We love you, too," he said.

_**Later That Evening**_

"Sammmyyy!"

In my drunken haze, I managed to stumble into the house with heels still on. "Jaaack!" I whined back, my grip on his hand tightening to help balance myself.

He stopped walking once the door shut behind me. I was wrapped in a hug by him, then he slurred, "Did you have a good birthday?"

"Mmhmm," I nodded, lazily wrapping my arms around him, too, and burying my head in his shoulder.

He pulled back from me first and walked into the kitchen. I followed after him, sitting on the counter. Looking down, I rubbed at my eyes, and when I opened them, Jack was standing in front of me, so I looked up. No words were said, but he took my face in his hands and sloppily kissed me, pushing his tongue in my mouth. We kissed for a while, my hands in his hair, but eventually we separated and he pulled me off the counter to my feet.

"You know, sometimes," he started, taking my hands in his, "I think we rushed into getting married."

Why do confessions like this always happen when people are drunk?

I pouted, crossing my arms. "Why?"

He shrugged. "Because we only dated about two and a half years, you weren't even twenty-one yet, our jobs don't exactly allow us to see each other all of the time, and some other reasons."

He had valid points-drunk or sober. But I grabbed his hands, lacing our fingers. "Sometimes I still feel like a whore for cheating on you," I confessed.

Jack shook his head, tracing my chin with his finger. "You shouldn't. It was a mistake. And you're not a whore."

I sighed. Then, feeling curious, I asked, "What are the other reasons for rushing into getting married?"

"Sometimes I still think Alex likes you," he blurted, not meeting my eyes.

"Which one?" I asked.

"Both," he admitted.

"Why?" I questioned, furrowing my eyebrows.

He shrugged then looked down at his feet that he shifted. "I don't know..."

I slid my arms around his waist, laying my head against his chest. "You shouldn't worry about that."

"I know." Jack hugged me back, kissing the top of my head. "But I do."

"Doesn't matter." I shook my head a little. "I'm not gonna leave you."

"Okay. I won't leave you either." He let me go then kissed me as he took my hands again. "You look fucking hot in that dress," he said bluntly, staring me up and down.

I rolled my eyes, fighting at a blush. "No, I don't."

"Mmhmm." He kissed me, his hands starting to trail up my legs and under my dress.

I pushed his hands away, crossing my arms. "I'm not having sex with you in the kitchen."

Way to be blunt, Sammy. Way to be blunt.

"We don't have to stay in here." His hands went to hold my waist and he gently pulled me away from the counter.

Some things about a drunk me? I get daring, my deepest thoughts come out, and I'm very, VERY blunt.

I put my hands on his shoulders and jumped up, wrapping my limbs around him. "This is hot, too," he said, kissing me again.

"I'm not hot, Jack," I said once he pulled away.

"But you are, though." He began leaving a trail of kisses along my neck.

"I fucking love that," I moaned, lost in the feeling as my fingers tangled with his hair.

"I know. Come on." Placing me on my feet, he took my hand and walked me back to our room.

Once I shut the door, he kicked off his shoes and gently pushed me against the back of the door, his hands on my hips. "I think we rushed into getting married sometimes, too," I blurted, winding my arms around his neck.

"Really?" Jack slurred, confused.

I nodded. "Yup. For the same reasons you listed. But I don't really care, either." I kissed him.

"Me neither. I love you, and that's all I really know."

I raised an eyebrow. "Did you just quote Taylor Swift?"

Jack blinked, blankly. "Oh my gosh. I did."

I smirked, pressing my lips to his.

**XXXX**

The next morning, I woke up, surprised I didn't have a hangover. I rolled over onto my back, rubbing at my eyes and noticing Jack was awake next to me. "Hey," I said.

"Morning," he replied, glancing at me, but shifting his gaze back to the ceiling. "Did you have a good birthday?"

I nodded, smiling a bit and stretching. "Yeah."

"Good." He rolled over onto his side, facing me. "Wanna know a secret?"

I gave him a slightly confused look, rolling over as well. "I guess. What's up?"

"Alex proposed to Lisa."

"What!"

Jack grinned, nodding. "He called me this morning saying yesterday he was so drunk, he just blurted it out." I snorted. "All is well, though."

"So, she said yes, right?"

Jack nodded again. "Yup."

I smiled. "That's cool." He looked like he wanted to say something else. I scooted closer to him, curling into him as he snaked his arms around me, and asked, "What are you thinking about?"

"Did you really mean what you said last night? Everything?" he said quietly.

"Well, when I'm drunk, I tend to be blunt, so probably." I looked up at him. "What's worrying you?" I remembered last night, but he wasn't being very specific.

"You said you felt like we rushed into being married."

"But you said that, too."

"I know. I just- I don't know. Were we stupid?"

I shook my head. "I don't think so. I love you, Jack, and I don't see that changing anytime soon. I don't regret marrying you, even if I feel like we rushed into it."

He kissed me. "Same here." He buried his face in my hair and whispered, "I love you, too."

I meant every word I said. I do feel a little like we rushed into it, but I also feel like I wouldn't have it any other way. I love him, he loves me. No regrets, and I'm happy we got married.

"So, do Alex and Lisa know any details yet?"

Jack shook his head, then looked up with a half smile. "I feel weird that we're laying in bed naked, talking about two of our friends." I laughed and rolled over, looking on the floor for my underwear. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"Fixing the laying in bed naked problem," I said as I retrieved my bra and underwear.

"No one said it was a problem."

"But you implied it. I'm wearing your shorts." This I said as I picked up a pair of Jack's basketball shorts.

"That's fine." I heard him moving and I looked over to see him curling back into the blankets.

"And your shirt, too."

"No complaints here." He closed his eyes.

I stood up and put on the clothes then sat down on my knees on top of the covers. "Jack, are you gonna wake up, or do you wanna sleep?"

He opened his eyes again. "I wanna sleep."

"Mkay. Want me to wake you up later?"

"Yes, please." I leaned in and kissed his cheek before getting up and walking out of the room.


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26: Without the Bitter, the Sweet Isn't As Sweet**

**Sammy's POV **

Two days later, I had talked to my sister again. I found out where she lived, that she was married, too, and was currently pregnant for the first time. I had just hung up with her, setting my phone down on the kitchen counter, when I just kind of stared off into space and blinked in surprise.

I never really realized how much things can change in just six years.

"You okay?"

I blinked, composing my thoughts and noticing Jack was in the kitchen. He leaned against the counter next to my spot on the bar stool as I shrugged. "Just shocked."

Pushing himself up and onto the counter, he asked, "About what?"

So I told him what my sister had said and shrugged again when I was done. "I just didn't expect it."

"Oh." He nodded.

"She wants me to meet up with her somewhere."

"Does she still live in Tennessee?"

I shook my head. "Philadelphia."

Jack furrowed his eyebrows, confused. "Why'd she move there?"

"Her husband lived there and she's a cake decorator now."

He got down from the counter and put his arms around me from the side. I leaned into his chest as he said, "Do you wanna go up there?"

"Will you go with me?"

"Of course."

_**Two More Days Later**_

Jack and I walked into the door of the bakery my sister worked at. I looked up at him and he grabbed my hand, squeezing it a bit, and I took that as reassurance. We walked to the front counter, seeing a girl with black hair tied back into a ponytail behind the counter counting money in the cash register. My eyes widened. That was my black hair.

I glanced up at Jack again, but he was looking at the cakes in the display case to the left. I dropped his hand and walked up to the counter, taking the safe approach even though I saw that her name tag on her apron said 'Chelsea'. "Um...I'm looking for Chelsea," I said.

She looked up, looking confused or disoriented for a second. Her eyes widened and I'm pretty sure my eyes were just as wide. "Sammy?"

My sister looked the same, except older. She had my hair, but her eyes were my dad's-blue. She was a few inches taller than me, but always had been.

"Yeah," I replied, shrugging and slightly smiling.

She hopped over the counter and wrapped me in a hug. I wasn't shocked and didn't do anything to prevent it, just hugged her back. We were just silent, but I sniffed once I noticed I was crying. "I missed you," she whispered.

"I did, too," I finally confessed to myself out loud. Six years. Six whole fucking years. I glanced over at Jack, who was smiling and standing a few feet away with his hands in his pockets. I found myself chuckling then pulling away from my sister. She looked at me confused, smiling. "Holy fuck, it's you!"

She laughed through her own tears, nodding. "Hi," was all she replied, waving a bit. I hugged her again, tighter this time. "Oh my gosh, you're actually here!" she exclaimed.

Yup. We're a lot alike.

"This is weird." Chelsea let me go again, adding, "You're all grown up! Last time I saw you, you still had a bit of a baby face." She took my chin, looking at my face.

I laughed, looking at Jack again when he smirked. Chelsea followed my gaze, and I saw her raise an eyebrow. "Jack from All Time Low?"

Jack gestured to himself. "In the flesh."

She looked back at me. "So, all of it's true? You really play bass in Hey Monday?" I nodded. "Wow. Lot's changed."

"Oh, yeah," I agreed. "How far along are you?" I asked, pointing to her stomach, referring to the child currently growing inside her.

She smiled. "Only a month."

"What? She's pregnant?" Jack asked, walking up to me and grabbing my hand.

Chelsea and I nodded as I laced my fingers through Jack's. "Don't you listen to anything I tell you?" I asked him, laughing a little.

"Oh, yeah..." he said, and then smiled sheepishly. "I forgot, sorry."

My sister blinked. "My mind is just...blown, right now."

"Same here," I said.

"How long are you here?"

I shrugged. "As long as I need to be. Or...until I have to go on tour again."

"Wanna go out to lunch?" she suggested.

"Can I go?" Jack asked.

"No," Chelsea said seriously, but slowly smiled.

"Oh, great. Another Sam," Jack said sarcastically.

"Hey!" Chelsea and I said together.

She grinned. "Still got it." We high-fived.

Ten minutes later, we were sitting at a restaurant four blocks down from the bakery. Jack and I on one side of the table, Chelsea on the other.

"So, you guys are married now?" she asked.

I nodded and Jack said, "Yup."

"Wow. Lot of shit happened since I last saw you."

"I don't know how you guys did it," Jack said, shaking his head. "I don't like being away from my family for three months on tour. How'd you do it for six years?"

"We didn't have a whole lot of options," I said.

"But I still should've stayed in contact with you," Chelsea said. "I tried to talk Mom and Dad out of kicking you out. I kept telling them that you wouldn't always be like that." She shrugged. "But I do think they were stupid for not supporting you having a career in music."

I blinked. "Thanks for defending me."

She shrugged again. "What was I supposed to do? You're my sister. I didn't want to see you get kicked out."

"So, then why didn't you keep talking to me?"

"I don't know. I guess I told myself you brought it on yourself and it was the only way you'd change."

I looked down at the table and Jack squeezed my hand that was clenched with his. There was no doubt in my mind she wasn't lying, but did I want her back in my life?

"You guys look a lot alike," Jack said.

"We used to get that a lot," I said, never looking up.

Chelsea nodded. "Yup."

I finally looked up at her. "What made you call me all of the sudden?"

"Honestly?"

"That'd be pretty cool, yeah."

"My husband was asking about you about two weeks ago and it just made me think that I was sick of not being able to talk to you. So I took a shot and called you." She paused when the waiter brought over another glass of water for her. "You answered and now I feel like we have to go through an awkward get to know each other phase."

"That's because we do," I laughed. "We haven't talked to each other in so long."

Chelsea smirked then looked at Jack. "Nothing personal, but why are you here?"

Jack shrugged. "Moral support."

"Oh. Nice." She smiled.

I looked up at Jack, who half smiled at me. He squeezed my hand when I started playing with the sugar packets on the table. I always did this. Opened a sugar packet and put the sugar into an empty glass that I'd already drank the pop out of.

"You still do that?" Chelsea asked.

I smirked, nodding. "Yup."

"Stop it." Jack grabbed my other wrist while laughing a little, which stopped me.

"But I'm bored!" I said.

"Oh, gee, thanks," Chelsea said sarcastically.

"I'm sorry," I laughed.

We ate, getting caught up on our lives a little. But she had to go back to work, so while we were standing outside the restaurant we said goodbye.

"Can we hang out again before you go back?" Chelsea asked.

I nodded. "Of course."

She hugged me. "I love you, Sam."

"Love you, too, Chels," I replied, hugging her back. She let me go, said bye to Jack, and waved a little before walking off in the direction of the bakery. I took Jack's hand as we walked.

"That went well," he said.

I nodded. "A whole lot better than I thought it would."

**XXXX**

At around midnight, Jack and I were back in our hotel room. He walked out of the bathroom then plopped down on the bed next to me, crossing his legs. "I wanna go swimming," he said.

"That does sound pretty fun right now," I said.

"So, is that a, 'yes, let's go'?"

I chuckled. "Yes."

"Yay!" He got up and went over to his things.

We changed, got towels, and went down to the pool. Due to the fact that it was midnight, there wasn't anybody at the pool. No surprise there.

Jack jumped in right away, but I had to take my tank top and shorts off. "You coming?" he asked.

"Duh." I jumped in then swam over to him. "Hey."

"Hey." He kissed me then grabbed my hand as he started to swim away, making me follow him. He stopped after a minute in a spot that he could stand up straight, but I couldn't. So I swam over to the wall, holding myself up with my hand. "What are you doing?" he asked, confused.

"I can't touch here," I said.

"Oh." He swam over to me and wrapped his arms around my waist. "I'll hold you up, come here." Jack pulled me away from the wall. I looked at him as his arms slid around me. I wrapped my limbs around him and kissed him, but minutes later I pulled away from him completely. Splashing him, I swam off in the opposite direction.

"I'll get you for that, Sam!" he called after me.

"Mmhmm, I hope so!" I called back.

We swam around some more, but a little while later, I jumped out of the pool, just to sit down next to it with my feet over the edge. Jack started tickling my feet which made me giggle, pull them out of the water, and bring my legs to my chest.

He chuckled then jumped out of the water and sat next to me. "You're cute," he said, wrapping arm around my waist. I leaned into him and he kissed me. "Your lips are wet, too."

"Jack, my entire body is wet," I said.

"That's what happens when people go swimming." He kissed me again, deeper and longer this time. I pulled away first when I had to yawn. Jack's jaw dropped. "Am I really that bad of a kisser?"

"What? No, no." I shook my head. "I'm sorry." I giggled a little as I hugged him, hiding my face in his neck. "I didn't mean to."

Looking up at him, I saw he was pouting. "That's never happened to me before."

"I'm sorry." I kissed his neck a few times, but stopped when he moved a little to kiss my lips again.

"It's fine," he smiled, "I was just a little shocked," he laughed.

"Okay." I leaned my head on his shoulder.

"Wanna go back to our room?" he asked.

"Sure," I replied.

I dried off a bit, put my tank top and shorts back on, then Jack and I went back to our room. He shut the door behind him as I was sniffing my arm. "I'm gonna smell like chlorine for ages," I said. "Do you care if I take a shower?"

"We could take one together?" he suggested, a grin on his face.

I considered this then shrugged. "Okay. Let me get clothes first."

"Mkay." Jack walked into the bathroom. "Will you get me sweats and a t-shirt?" he asked as I heard the water turn on.

"Yeah," I replied as I went over to my things. Then I realized something. "You going commando?"

"What? Oh! No. I need boxers, too!"

"'Kay, just checking!"

I got the clothes out and a hairbrush then went into the bathroom. Jack poked his head out of the shower just as I pulled my tank top off. "You trying to turn me on?"

"You're the one that wanted to take a shower together," I said as I took off my shorts.

Jack cocked his head to the side. "Do you not want to? You don't have to."

"I don't really care either way," I said, laughing a little.

"Well, then come here!"

I walked over to him, just to push him lightly back in the shower. "Wash yourself."

"Fine." He closed the curtain and I started taking off my swimsuit.

After a shower that took way too long, (cough, cough) Jack and I were laying down on the bed in the hotel room, watching reruns of Seinfeld. He was messing with his hair, flipping it back and forth and he kept running his fingers through it.

"I don't think my hair has ever been this clean before. Can you wash it every time?"

I laughed and looked up at him. "If you don't stop running your fingers through it, it's only gonna get dirty faster."

"How?"

"The oils from your skin will get in your hair."

Jack considered this. "That makes sense." He slid his arms around me and buried his nose in my damp hair. "You smell nice."

"So do you."

About a half hour had past when Jack's phone started ringing. "Eh, I'm not getting it." he said, his arms tightening around me.

It was on the bedside table and I could reach it, so I answered it. "Hello?"

Jack pouted at me as Alex said, "Hey, what's up? How'd it go with your sister?"

"Pretty good. Way better than I thought it would," I replied as Jack started kissing my neck and started sliding his hands in my shirt. Alex was saying something, but I couldn't focus, so I said, "Jack, stop it," and pushed his hands down.

"What's he doing?" Alex laughed.

Sparing the details, I said, "Distracting me."

Alex and Jack both laughed. "Okay, I can tell now's not a good time," Alex said. "I'll call you later?"

I stood up from the bed and went over to the couch in the room. "You wouldn't have to if Jack wouldn't kiss my neck."

"Whoa-hoa, don't need details."

"Sorry." I shrugged, even though he couldn't see it.

"You sure I don't need to call later?"

"You're fine. I moved away from him. But it is, like, three in the morning. Why are you still up?"

I could picture Alex shrugging. "I couldn't sleep. Hey, I have a question."

I replied, "Are we finally running away together?" just to mess with Jack.

Sure enough, Jack sat up on the bed and said, "What?"

Alex laughed. "No, I'm not ready for that yet," he said. "Actually, Lisa and I were wondering if you could help plan a wedding."

"Oh, yeah. Congratulations."

"Thanks."

"Yeah, sure, I can help."

"Sweet. So, I'm gonna try to go to sleep. Have fun," he sang.

"I'm gonna punch you."

"Can't do that through the phone. Ha! I'll see you when you get back. I love you!"

I laughed. "Love you, too, Alex. Bye." Hanging up, I went back over to the bed and set Jack's phone down on the nightstand. I laid down next to him on my back. "Hey."

"You just love messing with my head, huh?" he asked with a smirk.

I nodded, smiling. "Yes." He chuckled a little and pulled me close to him, pressing his lips to mine.


End file.
